Viera :1: Counting Down the Hours
by Caligo Origuu
Summary: A stranger misplaced by time steps onto a shuttle bound for Sapphire Falls on just the right day, at just the right time.  How much can one person change?   Midnight through Waters of Mars & Torchwood: Children of Earth.
1. 1:1  The Eighth Passenger

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who and Torchwood do not belong to me, but this is how things might have gone if they did.

SUMMARY: 10th Doctor; Midnight thru The End of Time and beyond; eventual crossover with Torchwood, Children of the Earth. A stranger misplaced by time and space steps onto a shuttle bound for Sapphire Falls on just the right day, at just the right time. There is no such thing as coincidence.

Keep an eye out for the 10th Doctor, Donna, Jack, Ianto, Martha, Rose, Gwen and others. Friendship, adventure, and eventual possible romance.

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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PART ONE - MIDNIGHT

Chapter One – The Eighth Passenger

Viera shivered as she stepped into the shuttle, feeling mildly claustrophobic already. The bus was large enough and empty at the moment, but with all the windows just waiting to be closed she couldn't help but feel a bit trapped. _What I wouldn't give to be back on Earth_, she thought as she curled her lean form into an empty seat near the door. _Open blue skies and green grass beneath my feet. My family waiting inside._ Viera closed her eyes with a nearly silent sigh. _Stop depressing yourself. You're getting to see worlds none of them even knew existed. A diamond planet. Sapphire waterfalls._

The door opened behind her before she could sink any further into her melancholy. She kept her eyes closed but the sharp click of heels and the faint scent of lavender gave the presence away as her 'social worker'. She had some other title that Viera could never remember, but the sentiment seemed about right. Despite being well into her twenties, Viera had no idea how to survive in the current time period alone. She'd been assigned to a kind, if slightly stiff case worker for the very misplaced.

"I got a call," Ms. Tarrio stated bluntly. It was enough to make Viera open her eyes. "Another case came up here. As the only agent nearby, it has been assigned to me. I no longer have time for sightseeing."

Viera sat up a little straighter, suddenly worried she was going to spend her entire day trailing after Ms. Tarrio. "Can I still go?"

The blond-haired older woman studied Viera a moment with sharp blue eyes before nodding once. "If you wish. Either stay put or go to the rooms when you get back. I'm not sure how long I'll be and I don't want to search the planet for you."

"Deal," Viera said with a slight smile, relaxing back against her seat. Ms. Tarrio left without another word, passing the hostess on her way. Viera closed her eyes again and listened to the other passengers arrive.

There was a friendly man whose smiles she could almost see just by the tone of his voice, then someone quiet who boarded by themselves. A family trio arrived, complete with sullen teenager. Some sort of expert came next, a teacher perhaps, and his assistant or student by the way they were talked to each other. The noise level in the container rose a bit as the passengers got settled in. Viera listened to the hostess work her way from one passenger to another, starting at the front. She tried to visualize the different people by the way they spoke, the tone of their voices and the politeness, or lack thereof. It was only when the hostess reached her that Viera opened her hazel eyes.

"Headphones for Channels 1 to 36; modem link for video games; complimentary earplugs; complimentary slippers…" the hostess repeated. Viera just nodded, and accepted whatever was handed to her with a smile. The hostess seemed nice enough with a very… professional smile to go with her professional dress.

"Thank you," Viera murmured as the hostess moved on.

"Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon," the hostess began, "welcome on board the Crusader 50, if you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment. Doors!"

Viera turned to watch the door seal shut, then the windows. _Now we're really trapped. Trapped in a little tin can. Is it too late to say I want out?_

"Shields down! I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace. Also, a reminder, Midnight has no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it... you first," the hostess continued. The touch of humor didn't make Viera feel much better.

_Don't be ridiculous. It's no worse than being in small plane and that never bothered you_, she chided herself. That didn't help much either. Planes were never completely closed in. You could always see that you were in the air. That was the problem, not being able to see. Viera had a rather active imagination. There could be anything outside their shuttle; anything could happen and they'd never see it coming. She supposed there were instruments to watch for rockslides and they were on a track that would keep them from running off a cliff or into one, but Viera's imagination had no trouble supplying other possible, if terribly unlikely, dangers. And she couldn't see out to prove to herself they weren't true.

It felt a bit like those trust exercises where you were supposed to close your eyes and let someone lead you through a maze, trusting them to be your sight. Viera wasn't fond of those. She was always half certain there was a hole in front of her feet or a tree branch just waiting to smack her in the face the moment she took a step, no matter who was leading her.

The driver was talking; Viera tried to pay attention. "Driver Joe at the wheel! There's been a diamondfall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map. The journey covers 500 kliks to the Multifaceted Coast, duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll!"

"For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth Classics," the hostess stated, using a remote to start up different programs. "Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovico Klein. Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat - the Animation Archives. Four hours of fun time. Enjoy."

If Viera thought the shuttle had been a bit noisy before, it was nothing compared to what it was like with three different programs all running at once. It wasn't so much the volume as the chaos of it all. _Four hours of this? You've got to be kidding me. I'll have a headache in fifteen minutes. _She grimaced and ripped open the wrapper of her earplugs.

Then it all shut off at once and blessed quiet filled the shuttle.

"Well, that's a mercy!" one of the men commented. The one Viera thought was a teacher. He looked about the way she'd imagined, listening to him with her eyes closed; a balding older man with a suit, tie and glasses. His companion or student was younger. She looked a bit bookish but pretty. From that and the little she'd heard Viera's first impressions were that she was sweet.

"No kidding," Viera muttered her agreement, cautiously tucking her earplugs away.

"I do apologize, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon. We seem to have had a failure of the Entertainment System," the hostess said, looking just a little flustered.

"But what do we do?" the mother of the teenager asked. She was well dressed but not overly so. Her husband was as well. Their son, sitting apart from them was dressed in all in black, but they still looked like an incredibly normal family. A wave of homesickness nearly took her breath away, and Viera averted her eyes.

"We've got four hours of this! Four hours of just... sitting here?" said the husband.

_Right, because all that noise was so much better._

Then the friendly man spoke up. "Tell you what!" He looked rather pleased with the situation, an infectious grin spread across his face. "We'll have to talk to each other instead!"

And so they did. Well, some of them did. Viera soon learned that the older man was indeed a teacher, Professor Hobbes to be exact. His companion was Dee Dee, who seemed a bit overshadowed by him but just as sweet as Viera had thought she'd be. The teenager was Jethro. His parents were Val and Biff, which was a name that Viera couldn't help but associate with the antagonist from Back to the Future.

The hostess and the woman at the front mostly avoided the conversation; Viera never heard their names. The friendly man called himself the Doctor. Just the Doctor. It was odd, but then, so was he. Odd in a good way though. He was tall and lean with wild brown hair and an almost manic smile. He was also pretty much impossible not to like.

The Doctor was one of those people who made friends as easily as breathing. He soon had Biff and Val telling all sorts of stories. Viera was sitting a couple rows behind the married couple. She moved to the aisle seat and leaned against the arm rest, peering around the side of the seats as she listened. She grinned and laughed with the others. The release felt good. Normal. Like she was on vacation rather than completely, totally lost.

Viera was quite happy to leave the storytelling to Biff and Val and Professor Hobbes. She was content to listen and stay in the background with a room full of strangers. She did, however, asked if they minded her taking a few pictures. Viera's camera was new, a gift from Ms. Tarrio. She was still learning how to use it and the other passengers made good practice.

As the trip went on they took turns entertaining each other or entertaining themselves. Viera kept to herself mostly, observing more than interacting. It wasn't that she didn't like people, it was just that it took Viera a while to figure out how to act with strangers. She'd always been a bit shy.

Eventually the Doctor decided to bring the conversation to her.

Viera was fiddling with her camera when the Doctor flopped into the seat next to her. She glanced up questioningly without quite turning towards him.

"Hello, there," he greeted, grinning again.

"Hello," Viera echoed gamely, offering a slight smile of her own.

"It's Viera right?"

"That's me." She finally sat up straight and gave him her full attention. "I don't think I ever caught your name."

"I'm the Doctor," he stated happily.

Shy or not, it was hard not to feel at ease with such a sunny personality. Viera grinned at his reply. He didn't seem the sort to take offense easily so she let her tone slide into quiet teasing. "That's not a name, it's an occupation."

"It is at that," he agreed, thoughts wandering for a moment. He shook his head a moment later and refocused on her with another friendly smile. "So, you a photographer?"

"No, it's just a hobby. Something to keep my mind off things," Viera explained. "It was a gift from my social worker, or whatever her title is."

The Doctor's eyebrows raised. "Bit old to need a social worker, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but-" It was such a strange thing to say it out loud. She always half-expected people to call her crazy when she tried to explain. Viera shrugged a shoulder and fiddled nervously with her camera. "It's not because I lost my parents. It's because I lost my time. Or because time lost me."

"What do you mean?"

"I was in Wales. Cardiff. I was vacationing with my friends to celebrate Eva's graduation and apparently there's some sort of fracture there in time and space. I got caught in it. One minute I was in Cardiff and it was 1998, the next I was on a completely different planet called Kupil Spolu and it's the 52nd century." She tried to smile, but it felt like more of a grimace on her face. "I was lucky, I suppose. As far as landing spots go, that was probably about the best I could hope for. There were people there who understood what had happened to me, who found me and explained and assigned Ms. Tarrio to get me settled into some sort of life in this time period."

"That's got to be jarring," he said sympathetically, tilting his head with a puzzled expression. "One thing I don't understand though. There's still a time agency on Kupil Spolu. Didn't anyone try to send you back?"

"That was the plan at first, before they found out who I was, who I left behind."

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked. Viera eyed the man next to her. There was sympathy in those dark brown eyes, but the vivid curiosity was brighter.

"I'm Viera Mier," she answered. "Which doesn't mean anything unless you know that the driving forces behind the organization that preluded the Time Agency were the Mier siblings: my older brother, my baby sister." Viera watched the realization dawning across the Doctor's face as she spoke. He certainly put it all together a lot faster than she had.

"They'll never find my body. They'll spend the rest of their lives searching for answers and it changes them. Changes the world apparently, or at least the future of the Time Agency. They've always been clever. Endlessly stubborn. With all of that aimed at solving certain mysteries…" She trailed off with a shrug, trying to imagine the world changing in the wake of her family's grief. "I can't ever go back. It'd change too much. I'm stuck here and they're never even going to know I survived."

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor murmured.

"Yeah…" Viera closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat. Maybe it was stupid to pour her heart out to a complete stranger, but she hadn't felt so safe talking to anyone since she'd fallen through the rift, and there were things she desperately needed to say to someone, anyone, if only to keep them from constantly circling through her mind. "You know what the worst part is? It's not that I'm completely alone on a world and in a time I don't really understand. It's not even that I'll never see my home or my family again, though that's…" _crushing._ Viera bit her lip and clutched at her camera until the edges bit into her palms. "The worst part is that I'm not sure what to believe anymore."

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked quietly.

The words tumbled from her mouth without restraint. "People don't seem to believe in one God here. Most of them don't seem to believe in any god at all, let alone Christ and salvation and the commandments that shaped my life. I've been a Christian since I was _four_. It's been the center of… _everything_, of who I am. And now… The world believes in evolution and the world beginning with a big bang. There's life everywhere in the universe. Which is wonderful, but what does that mean for everything I believed about salvation? If Christianity was right and Jesus is the way to heaven, what happens to the aliens?" Viera laughed softly but it didn't sound very amused. She made a face and let her head fall back against the seat with a thump."I probably sound ridiculous to you, rambling on about out of date religion."

"Of course not," he disagreed. "Beliefs are important. They're what make us who we are. It's only natural for you to feel lost right now." The Doctor rested a hand over hers, the warmth easing something no words could touch. "Change is hard, but you'll be alright. You'll adapt, adjust," he reassured.

"Will I?" Viera scoffed quietly. He went silent, looking concerned. She tried to ease the bitterness in her voice before she spoke again.

"It's not like I've never questioned, you know," Viera stated. "But doubt… doubt feels like a disease and… I'm scared. What if this never gets better? What if there is always a hole inside of me, doubt nibbling around the fractures in my heart? I can't handle this- this fear, this- I don't even feel broken, I just feel... I don't know, horrified. Thick and twisted up inside, like there's been something rotting underneath my sense of self for ages and all of a sudden it's seeping through the cracks, braking apart everything I thought I was. I've always believed," she repeated, sounding quietly breathless. Desperate. "What's the point if there's no God, if this life is just what we can see and touch and hear with our ears? If God isn't there, if I've really just been fooling myself, talking to myself all this time... there's no plan for my life. No purpose. No hope that all will finally be well when this life is over. I can't live like that."

"Don't say that," he interrupted, low and earnest. Viera stopped, blinking back tears as the Doctor's hands tightened around hers. The sounds of the other passengers finally reached her ears again. She tried to recall how loudly she'd been talking. When she glanced up, none of the others were looking her way. Thankfully it seemed only the Doctor had been listening. "You'll figure things out. Plenty of people still believe in God. Humans, aliens; lots of cultures believe in a Creator."

"Do you?" Viera asked with a wry twist to her lips. She already knowing the answer; it was pretty clear in the way he phrased things.

The Doctor hesitated but replied honestly. "No. But that doesn't mean you should give up. There's always, _always_ hope," he hurried to assure. "And I do, on occasion, find that the universe surprises me." The Doctor watched her like he could see all the way inside; it would have been unnerving if the man himself didn't feel so absurdly trustworthy. "You said you'd doubted before." Viera glanced over at him with confusion. "What happened? The last time you questioned, what'd you do then?"

_Oh._ She offered a faint smile, a little of the tension easing from her soldiers. "Decided to believe anyways, that faith was a choice. I decided I'd rather live with hope."

"There you go then."

"Yeah," Viera conceded thoughtfully. None of her questions had been answered and her belief still needed sorting out, but just like that she somehow didn't feel like she was drowning in doubt anymore.

"You know, for someone I just met, you're incredibly easy to talk to," Viera observed.

"Suppose you just needed a friendly ear," he suggested modestly.

"Maybe, but it's pretty rare for me to feel this comfortable talking to anyone." She looked down again, absently fiddling with her camera. "Anyways, thanks." _For listening and not mocking in any way, for taking the time to talk to me, for being so ludicrously comforting just by being there._

"Any time," he offered cheerily.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again a story is born out of a desperate need to change things. Basically this will be a rewrite of part of the series with whatever changes are brought about by one extra character. Parts of it might be rather repetitive, but I'll try to keep from boring you.

Reviews and suggestions are always, always welcome.


	2. 1:2  The Infection of Fear

PART ONE - MIDNIGHT

Chapter Two – The Infection of Fear

Professor Hobbes called everyone's attention not long after that. He commandeered the on-board projector to display his slideshow. Viera moved closer when the Doctor did, already attached to the friendliest person she'd met since falling through the Rift. Fortunately he didn't seem to mind. She stood next to him, leaning against the seat in front of her.

"So, this is Midnight, d'you see? Bombarded by the sun!"

"Odd spot for a spa, isn't it?" Viera murmured to the Doctor. He shot her a small grin but remained politely focused on the Professor's lecture.

"Because you see... the history is fascinating, because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system, there couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no-one had come here in all eternity. No living thing."

"But how do you know?" Jethro spoke up. "I mean if no-one can go outside…"

Viera shivered. _Ugh. Right, because what my imagination needed was more fuel. Anything could be out there. How would we know?_

"Oh, his imagination. Here we go." his mother complained.

"He's got a point, though," stated the Doctor.

"Exactly! We look upon this world through glass. Safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it."

"No one has _ever_ actually been outside?" Viera asked.

There was a sudden rattle and the sound of dying power. The shuttle shook as the lights flickered, and Viera sat down in her seat quickly.

"We've stopped," Val murmured. "Have we stopped?"

"Are we there?" her husband asked.

The teacher's assistant shook her head. "We can't be, it's too soon."

The Doctor stayed silent, looking alert but not truly worried. The same couldn't be said for the rest of them.

"If you could just... return to your seats," the hostess requested. "It's... just a small delay."

_She doesn't know any more about what's happening than we do_, Viera guessed, though she kept the thought to herself. There was no point in panicking. They all watched the hostess go to the back to access the phone. _Please let this be something simple, easy to fix. Please don't let us be stuck in this tin can with no way to move._

Worry started the other passengers arguing, but Jethro seemed amused by it all.

"We've broken down," he laughed. "In the middle of _no_where."

"Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon, we're just experiencing a short... delay, the driver needs to stabilize the engine feeds." The hostess did her best to sound perfectly calm and confident. She did a fairly good job at it too, but she was not quite convincing enough to erase the worry coiling around Viera's heart. "It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats..."

The Doctor wasn't convinced either. He gave the hostess a searching look and seemed to see right through her. He made his way to the cockpit despite her protests, offering a brief flash of a badge as he passed. Viera stayed put, listening to the others get under each other's skin. For all that she preferred not to stick her nose where it didn't belong, she immediately wished she'd tried to get into the cockpit as well. At least it'd be quieter in there.

A few minutes passed and then the Doctor returned, instantly accosted by the quiet woman.

"What did they say? Did they tell you? What is it, what's wrong?" the _formally_ quiet woman demanded.

The Doctor gave a careless shrug, doing a much better job at seeming unconcerned than the hostess had. "Oh, just stabilizing, happens all the time."

"I don't need this. I'm on a schedule," the woman complained as the hostess approached. "This is completely unnecessary!"

"Back to your seats, thank you," was all the reply she got. Then the hostess went to talk to the driver herself.

"Alright then?" the Doctor asked, sitting back down next to Viera.

"Fine," Viera replied truthfully. The worry had eased, for the moment at least. The situation was entirely out of her hands; there was nothing she could do to make it better, or worse for that matter, so why worry? Admittedly it was easier to convince herself things were fine with the competent-seeming Doctor sitting next to her as calm as he could be.

"Excuse me, Doctor," Dee Dee leaned around her seat to ask, "but they're micropetrol engines, aren't they?"

"Now, don't bother the man," the professor admonished. For once Dee Dee wasn't having any of that.

"My father was a mechanic. Micropetrol doesn't stabilise, what does 'stabilise' mean?"

The Doctor tried to smooth over her suspicions. "Well, a bit of flim-flam. Don't worry, there're sorting it out."

So of course people started to get worked up.

"So then it's not the engines," the professor stated.

"It's just a little pause, that's all," the Doctor assured.

"How much air have we got?" Professor Hobbes demanded, much too loudly in the silent cabin.

"Fantastic," Viera groaned as the others got louder. She let her head fall back against her seat and tried not to let the worry that seemed to fill the shuttle get to her. Dee Dee tried to calm the professor as Val began fretting and the Doctor tried in vain to reassure her.

"What did he say?" Val asked. "Are we running out of air?"

"I was just speculating," the professor tried. Then the hostess returned.

"Is that right, miss?" Biff demanded. "Are we running out of air?"

"Is that what the Captain said?" continued Val.

"If you could all just remain calm," the hostess tried to control the situation and failed. Soon everyone was talking over each other, arguing and panicking. Viera just slid lower in her seat.

"_QUIET_!" the Doctor finally yelled. Viera jumped, but she felt nothing but relief that the shuttle was finally silent. "Thank you," he continued. "Now, if you'd care to listen to my good friend Dee Dee…"

Dee Dee looked a bit rattled to suddenly be the center of attention, but she rose to the occasion quite well. "It's just that… Well, the air's on a circular filter so we could stay breathing for ten years."

"There you go!" the Doctor exclaimed. "And I've spoken to the Captain. I can guarantee you, everything's fine." He sounded absolutely confident, comforting. Viera quite believed him.

So of course that was the moment things began to fall apart.

There were two loud knocks on the wall of the shuttle. Everyone turned to stare at the wall and silence reigned for long moments.

"What was that?" asked Val eventually.

"It must be the metal," the professor reasoned. "We're cooling down, it's just settling."

"Rocks," Dee Dee offered. "Could be rocks falling."

Biff dismissed the anomaly completely. "What I want to know is, how long do we have to sit here?" Then it came again, from a different part of the shuttle.

"What is that?" the blond woman asked. Viera still didn't know her name. She'd hardly spoken to anyone.

"Is someone out there?" added Val.

"Now don't be ridiculous," the professor objected.

"Like I said, it could be rocks."

The hostess shot down that idea. "We're out in the open. Nothing could fall against the sides." Then the knocks came again. Cold fear crept into Viera's chest, making her heart pound and her breath come just a little faster. It probably shouldn't have been so frightening, that brief little sound, but it shouldn't have been possible for something to be out there. They couldn't see what it was, and if something impossible was out there, it could be _anything_. And they were trapped.

"Anyone else feel like we've stepped into the middle of a horror story?" she couldn't help but mutter aloud despite knowing that adding to the panic would only make things worse. Viera barely managed to keep the next sentence inside her head. _And that it's going to be one of those stories where the rescue team finds the empty shuttle out in the middle of nowhere with no one around and no sign of what happened to us?_

"We're fine," the Doctor stated firmly, smiling comfortingly in Viera's direction. _He_ certainly looked more interested than worried, though Viera wasn't entirely certain she'd be able to tell if he was faking it. Things were silent again and Viera thought maybe the knocking would just stop and they could all pretend it hadn't happened at all.

The blond woman was the one who spoke up. She sounded just a little bit frantic as she looked around at the other passengers. "Is there something out there? Well? Anyone?" The knocking came again, like it was answering. "What the hell is that noise?" She demanded.

"I'm sorry, but the light out there is Xtonic, that means it would destroy any living thing, in a split-second. It is impossible for someone to be outside," Professor Hobbes denied.

"'There are more things between heaven and earth than are dreamt of by your philosophy,'" Viera quoted quietly, eying the area where the last knocks had come from. It came again, two knocks. Always two. She jumped at the sound and moved into the aisle, wanting to be as far from the walls as possible. The Doctor, on the other hand, walked right up to it and pulled out a stethoscope.

"Sir, you really should get back to your seat," the hostess protested. "Sit down," she told Viera and the other passengers. They ignored her.

The Doctor pressed the stethoscope against the wall of the shuttle. "Hello?" he asked quietly. Two knocks answered. Then again.

"It's moving," Jethro pointed out. The door rattled and Viera echoed the blond's frightened intake of breath.

"It's trying the door!" Val said.

Professor Hobbes was stubbornly insistent. "There's no it. There's nothing out there! Can't be." Which was all well and good in theory, but it seemed a bit ridiculous under the circumstances.

"Life happens everywhere," Viera argued, still watching the door as it rattled again. Fear made her voice louder. "In different atmospheres, underwater, even in the depths of the ocean where most living things would be crushed. You can't _possibly_ know for certain there's nothing on this planet. You said yourself no one has ever been outside here. Nobody really knows _anything_ about this world."

The knocking moved around the shuttle as she spoke, eventually finding the side door.

"That's the entrance," Val worried. "Can it get in?"

"No, that door's on two hundred weight of hydraulics," Dee Dee reasoned. Biff approached the door.

"Biff, don't," his wife pleaded.

"Mr. Cane, better not," the Doctor agreed. Personally Viera thought the wisest thing to do was huddle in the middle of the shuttle and hope whatever it was moved on quickly, but apparently that was just her.

Biff laid his palms against the door, needing to feel from himself that they were solid and strong. "Nah, it's cast iron, that door," he assured. To prove his point he knocked on the metal three times.

Whatever was outside knocked back, three times instead of two. Everyone jumped back.

"Three times! Did you hear that? It did it three times!" Val exclaimed, panicking.

"It answered!" Jethro added.

"It did it three times!" Val repeated.

The Doctor tried to calm everyone down, but it didn't do much good. Viera could feel the fear niggling at the back of her mind, eating away at reason and calm. It felt like being in the middle of a nightmare.

"Alright, alright, alright. Everyone, calm down," the Doctor persisted.

"No, but it answered," the blond woman exclaimed, quickly becoming frantic. "It answered, don't tell me that thing's not alive, it answered him!" She gasped as the three knocks came again.

"I really must insist you get back to your seats!" the hostess demanded.

"No! Don't just stand there telling us the rules! You're the hostess, you're supposed to do something!"

As people began yelling the Doctor made his way over to the door. Viera watched with wide eyes, as he knocked four times. For a brief moment there was silence.

Then whatever was outside knocked four times in reply. Whatever it was had some measure of intelligence. This, really, just made it scarier, in Viera's opinion. An intelligent being was less likely to just move on if there was something it wanted. Then the blond started to lose it completely.

"What is it, what the hell's making that noise? She said she'd get me. Stop it, make it stop, somebody make it stop! Don't just stand there looking at me, it's not my fault, he started it with his stories…" the older woman ranted, completely frantic. Dee Dee tried to calm her down. Val, who seemed only a few steps away from a breakdown herself, scolded her. The Doctor tried to quiet everyone to no avail. The blond couldn't seem to stop. "Why couldn't you leave it alone? Stop staring at me! Just tell me what the hell it is!"

There was a loud bang on the roof. Then another. The sound followed the woman as she backed towards the cockpit. It was like watching a train wreck; Viera couldn't bring herself to do anything, say anything, even reach out a hand in comfort.

She'd wonder later if she could have done something to change the events that followed.

"It's coming for me, oh it's coming for me," the blond kept repeating, still backing away, wide-eyed stare locked on the ceiling. "It's coming for me. It's coming for me." The pounding continued and her fear just kept growing. She started screaming and the Doctor leapt towards her.

"Get out of there!" he exclaimed, reaching for her.

Then the world shook. The shuttle rocked violently and sparks sprayed from the ceiling. The lights went out, struggled on, and died again. Back and forth they were thrown, banging into each other and the seats. People screamed.

When thing finally went still, everyone was on the ground. They stirred with groans, the family checking each other over. Viera rubbed at her stomach where she'd been thrown into one of the armrests. That was definitely going to bruise. "Ow," she whimpered quietly, checking to make sure all of her limbs were still working properly. She looked around, relieved to see a distinct lack of blood among the other passengers.

The Doctor, of course, was the one to take control of the situation. He was just another passenger, but it didn't seem at all odd to Viera to watch him take up the responsibility like he'd been doing it all his life. Her gaze flickered to the screen when it faded into static before showing a blond young woman mouthing a very distinct word. Within seconds the screen died, and no one else seemed to have noticed.

_Doctor. She was saying doctor,_ Viera mused, staring at the black screen in confusion. It was hardly the oddest occurrence of the day; she pushed it to the back of her mind, feeling for bumps at the back of her head.

"How are we? Everyone alright?" the Doctor asked.

"Fine," Viera stated when his gaze fell on her. She counted the others in the dim light, glad to come up with the right number of people, all conscious. The blond woman, however, wasn't moving or making any noise. She'd been terrified earlier. Maybe she'd gotten so scared she'd completely withdrawn inside herself. Viera crept closer, stepping carefully over the things scattered over the shuttle floor; peanuts, her broken camera, bits of luggage and complementary slippers. Behind her the others found flashlights and continued talking until Jethro pointed out the blond's odd behavior. Viera crouched down next to her, wincing as the others shown their lights in her direction.

"Ma'am?" Viera asked, hesitantly laying a hand on her shoulder. She didn't react. "It's alright. It's over," Viera tried. She looked up helplessly as the Doctor came over. She shifted around so he could crouch there two, putting his hand on the blond's back without hesitation. Viera moved her hand to the woman's bent knee, feeling awkward.

"It's alright," the Doctor assured, quiet and soothing. "It's alright. It's over. We're still alive. Look, the wall's still intact. D'you see?"

Viera glanced up to see the bent metal of the door lit up by the other's torchlight. Something had _tried_ to get in. Something strong. There was no more knocking, no more noise from outside. Had it really just given up? Viera couldn't voice her doubts with the blond woman right there still petrified.

"We're safe," the Doctor comforted, still focused on the older woman as the others tried to contact the cockpit. Viera moved slowly, watching the woman for a flinch or any sign that she was even aware of them as she reached up with her free hand to gently grasp one of hers. She pulled at it lightly, trying to get her to stop clutching at her head. There was no resistance; the woman let Viera take her cold hand and hold it, though she didn't look up at all.

There was a bright, sudden flare of burning light from behind them as the cockpit door opened. People screamed and Viera and the Doctor flinched away. The blond didn't react at all.

The hostess closed the door and people were panicking again. Viera swallowed her fears and went back to holding the older woman's hands, watching the cabin with worried hazel eyes.

"What happened? What was that?"

"Is it the driver? Have we lost the driver?" Biff asked after his wife.

The hostess was in shock. "The cabin's gone."

"Don't be ridiculous. It can't be gone, how can it be gone?

"Well, but you saw it!"

"There was nothing there, like it was ripped away."

Viera shifted out of the way as the Doctor fiddled with a panel on the wall. Biff was the first one who noticed.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, pointing his flashlight at the Doctor.

"That's better, bit of light," the Doctor stated distractedly. "Thank you. Molto bene!"

"Do you know what you're doing?" Val asked.

"The cabin's gone, you'd better leave that wall alone," Biff admonished, even as the professor protested that the cabin couldn't be gone.

"No, it's safe, any rupture would automatically seal itself," the Doctor explained as he removed the panel. "But something sliced it off." He sounded a bit stunned himself. "You're right. The cabin's gone."

"Something _sliced_ it off?" Viera asked quietly. She glanced at the blond woman. Still no reaction. Viera rubbed her thumbs gently over the back of the woman's chilled hands feeling rather cold herself.

"But if it gets separated…" the hostess spoke.

"It loses integrity. I'm sorry, they've been reduced to dust," the Doctor informed. The hostess gasped and Viera bit her lip. She'd never even met them. "The driver and the mechanic. But they sent a distress signal. Help is on its way. They saved our lives! We're gonna get out of here, I promise," he insisted. He sounded so certain, but there was no way he could know that. He was making promises he wasn't sure he could keep. Funnily enough, it helped Viera to hear it all the same. "We're still alive, and they're gonna find us."

"Doctor," Jethro spoke up a bit shakily. "Look at her." He was pointed his flashlight at the blond, who still wasn't moving.

"I think she's in shock. She's cold," Viera spoke up quietly. "Catatonic or something. I don't think she's even aware of us."

"Right, yes, sorry," the Doctor diverted his attention. "Have we got a medical kit?" He stood, studying the blond still crouched on the ground. "What's her name?"

"Silvestry," the hostess replied. "Mrs. Sky Silvestry."

"Sky? Can you hear me?" Viera watched as the Doctor crouched down again. Something about the way he looked at Sky… It was more than just concern. Suspicion maybe. Viera felt like something cold had crawled down her throat as the fear returned. She looked down at her hands clutching Sky's, but couldn't quite bring herself to let go. What if she was just imagining things. What if Sky was really just that scared? What if she needed a hand to hold?

"Are you alright? Can you move, Sky? Just look at me," the Doctor continued, gaze only briefly flickering to Viera's hands. "Maybe you should let her go a moment. Give her a bit of room," he suggested quietly, his tone never shifting. He didn't _sound_ worried, but he was, Viera could see it in the creases around his eyes. She squeezed Sky's hands gently then set them on her knees, moving away slowly. Viera stopped a few feet away, wrapping her arms around herself.

Jethro caught the suspicion too, or just had an active imagination of his own. "That noise, from outside. It stopped."

"Well thank God for that," his mother stated.

"But what if it's not outside anymore? What if it's inside?" Jethro pressed.

"Inside? Where?" Val asked. The others examined the walls with their torchlight.

Viera's breaths came faster, and she couldn't quite take her eyes off Sky even as she listened to the others. Fear was fierce and frantic scratching at her insides, an infection so easily picked up from others. Something felt terribly wrong, but Viera was easily frightened in the first place, she didn't dare trust her shaky intuition now.

Jethro was staring at Sky. "It was headed for her."

"Sky," the Doctor coaxed in gentle tones, his words and manner perhaps just a bit too careful. "It's alright, Sky. I just want you to turn around, face me."

She did. Ever so slowly, Sky turned and stared at the Doctor with wild eyes. She didn't look scared. Her expression was just… blank. Then her eyes darted around at the others and Viera jerked back further, feeling sick. She wasn't acting like Sky; she wasn't acting _human_. There was no recognition in Sky's wide blue eyes. No anything. No hunger or anger or fear or hope, nothing.

The Doctor leaned a bit closer and Sky's attention swung abruptly to him. He tilted his head and she mimicked him, one way then the other. "Sky?" the Doctor tried in a quiet murmur.

"Sky?" the blond mimicked. Goosebumps prickled over Viera's skin. She talked like a parrot, an echo. Sky mimicked the intonation perfectly in her own voice but with no emotion of her own.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked.

"Are you alright?" Sky echoed.

"Are you hurt?"

"Are you hurt?"

"You don't have to talk."

"You don't have to talk," Sky mimicked. Truthfully she didn't seem capable of stopping herself. Actually, she didn't seem aware that the words meant anything at all, like they were just sounds to copy.

"I'm trying to help," the Doctor offered.

"I'm trying to help."

"My name's the Doctor."

"My name's the Doctor."

"Okay, can you stop?" Even the Doctor seemed unnerved.

"Okay, can you stop?"

"I'd like you to stop."

"I'd like you to stop."

Professor Hobbes finally stepped into the conversation. "Why's she doing that?"

Then Sky mimicked him as well. "Why's she doing that?"

"She's gone mad," Biff spoke up.

"She's gone mad."

_Oh, God,_ Viera thought, watching as the situation continued to deteriorate. Soon enough they were all talking and Sky mimicked every single one of them perfectly. Her gaze shifted to each of them as they spoke but nothing else in her expression changed.

"Sh, sh, sh, all of you," the Doctor finally shushed them.

"Sh, sh, sh, all of you," Sky repeated.

"My name's Jethro," the teen stated, provoking an echo with great amusement.

"My name's Jethro."

"Jethro, leave it. Just shut up!" the Doctor ordered, finally showing annoyance. He crept closer to Sky, staring into her eyes.

"Jethro, leave it. Just shut up!"

"Why are you repeating?" he asked carefully. Viera could practically see him thinking through different scenarios and possibilities. There was more than just curiosity in that thoughtful look on his face, though. Perhaps they were right to be scared. Whatever had happened to Sky, whatever Sky _was_, something had done a lot of damage to the shuttle. And that something was completely unknown to them. They really shouldn't underestimate it.

"Why are you repeating?"

"What is that, learning?"

"What is that, learning?"

"Copying?"

"Copying?"

Realization stole across the Doctor's face. "Absorbing?" What did that even mean? Absorbing what? Their words? Their voices?

"Absorbing?"

"The square root of pi is 1.7724538509055160272981674833 41- Wow!" the Doctor exclaimed. Sky echoed the numbers _exactly_.

_How is that possible?_ Viera wondered. _There's no way to keep track of that once he's started talking; you couldn't hardly even hear the numbers when she was talking on top of him. How could she mimic that perfectly? Is she doing more than just listening before she repeats?_

The others were more vocal with their disbelief. Professor Hobbes and Dee Dee called it impossible. Val just wanted her to stop.

"She's driving me mad," Val complained.

"She's driving me mad."

"Just make her stop!"

"Just make her stop!"

They were all talking at once, but Sky didn't miss a beat. She mimicked every word, even as they talked over each other. Viera backed away, sitting in the nearest seat, trying to fight off the panic that rose with the volume of voices. Why couldn't they all just _shut up_?

"Stop her staring at me, shut her up," Val pleaded.

"Stop her staring at me, shut her up..."

"A trick…"

"A trick..."

"That's impossible..."

"That's impossible..."

"I'm telling you, whatever your name is..."

"I'm telling you, whatever your name is..."

"Now, just stop it, all of you," the Doctor tried to calm them down, but no one was listening.

"Now, just stop it all of you,"

"Her eyes, what's wrong with her eyes?"

"Her eyes, what's wrong with her eyes?"

"...She's copying anything..."

"...She's copying anything..."

"Biff don't just stand her, do something, make her stop."

"Biff don't just stand her, do something, make her stop."

"You're scaring my wife."

"You're scaring my wife."

"Mrs Silvestry..."

"Mrs Silvestry..."

"Six, six, six." That, of course, was Jethro. Viera narrowed her eyes at him, not that he noticed. It wasn't funny.

"Six, six, six."

The kept talking, louder and louder to be heard, with Sky matching every intonation perfectly. The Doctor looked around, trying to find a way to stop it all when his words obviously weren't working. He met Viera's eyes and took a moment to give her a reassuring smile, though it was a bit grim. Viera couldn't manage to smile back, but she had a sudden longing for an air horn. That would be enough to shut them up. Probably.

"Don't just stand there! Do something! Make her stop!"

"Don't just stand there! Do something! Make her stop!" As Sky, or whatever had Sky's body finished echoing Val's last sentence, there was a buzz of electricity and the lights came back on. For a brief, blessed moment there was silence.

The hostess breathed a sigh of relief. "That's the backup system." For a moment Viera thought Sky had stopped talking altogether, but as Viera watched, she mouthed the words. As she copied the others, Viera realized she was just talking quieter and the seconds between the original speakers and the mimicry were getting shorter.

Then Professor Hobbes started talking and it wasn't mimicry anymore. Sky was talking _with_ him, saying the words at the exact same time. _How is that possible?_

"That poor woman is evidently in a state of self-induced hysteria, we should leave her alone," the professor said. As she continued speaking, Sky's voice got louder, more sure of itself.

Viera wasn't the only one still paying attention to Sky.

"Doctor…" Jethro warned, staring at the blond.

"I know," the Doctor replied grimly, only briefly glancing away.

"Doctor, now step back," Professor Hobbes continued talking. "I think you should leave her…" About then he noticed Sky's voice alongside his. "Alone. What's she doing? How can she do that?"

"She's talking with you," Val pointed out, confused. "And with me! Oh my God! Biff, what's she doing?"

"She's repeating," Jethro and Sky mused. "At exactly the same time." She spoke with him as well.

"That's impossible," Dee Dee stated along with Sky.

_Not entirely impossible, evidently,_ Viera thought.

"There's not even a delay," the professor marveled, Sky's voice alongside.

"Oh man, that is weird," said Jethro and Sky.

"I think you should all be very, very quiet," the Doctor stated with Sky. He was watching her with undisguised wariness. It was rather obvious that there was none of the frightened blond left there in need of gentle voices, or at least not in control. "Have you got that?"

_Possession?_ Viera wondered. _Speaking of horror stories_… And of course, almost no one was listening to the Doctor. Perhaps the echoing of Sky's voice leeched his words of authority, or perhaps the fear just overwhelmed everything. Viera still felt inclined to listen, but then her natural inclination was firmly secured in the instinct to hide and wait it out.

"How's she doing it?" Val had to ask, looking more frantic when Sky said the words at the same time.

"Mrs. Cane, please, be quiet," the Doctor and Sky demanded.

"But how can she do that?" Sky and Val asked. "She's got my voice! She's got my words!"

"Sweetheart, be quiet just… hush now. Hush." Biff tried to comfort his wife but got sidetracked when Sky spoke with him as well. "She's doing it to me!"

"Just stop it," the Doctor snapped. "All of you. Stop it. Please." He moved closer and crouched down to look into Sky's eyes. Viera had the sudden violent urge to snatch him back but suppressed it.

"Now then, Sky. Are you Sky? Is Sky still in there? Mrs. Silvestry?" The Doctor stopped a moment. It was odd watching them talk. Sky copied his intonation but not his expressions, and the Doctor had a very expressive face. It shifted as he spoke, eyebrows raising, eyes searching. Sky remained blank, her only movement that of her mouth. "You know exactly what I'm going to say, how are you doing that?" he questioned. For once, the other passengers remained silent, just watching. "Roast beef!" the Doctor spat out, testing Sky. "Bananas! The Medusa Cascade. Bang! Rose Tyler Martha Jones Donna Noble TARDIS! Shamble bobble dibble dooble. Oh, Doctor, you're so handsome. Yes I am, thank you. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O…" He spoke faster, randomly. Sky said every word, never faltered, never hesitated. The Doctor stood.

"First she repeats. Then she catches up. What's the next stage?" he wondered aloud.

"Next stage of what?" Dee Dee and Sky asked.

"But that's not her, is it?" Jethro spoke with Sky. "That's not Mrs. Silvestry anymore."

"I don't think so, no," the Doctor agreed. Val started crying and the echo of it sent shivers down Viera's spine.

"Please don't do that," Viera begged, feeling sick with fear as Sky spoke with her then continued echoing the crying.

"It's alright. Stay calm," the Doctor ordered. Sky even took breaths at the same moments as he did. "I think the more we talk, the more she learns. Now I'm all for education, but in this case… maybe not. Let's just… move back." He stood and started herding everyone to the back of the shuttle. Viera stayed where she was, almost too scared to move, to take her eyes off the blond. Sky wasn't making any move to follow him. She'd still yet to move anything except her head and mouth. But what if she did? What if whatever was in her lunged for them and-

"Come on, Viera. Get up," the Doctor urged gently. She took a deep breath and tore her gaze from Sky's blue eyes to his kind brown ones. "That's it. Come on. Come with me." Viera finally got up and slipped past the Doctor towards the back. "Everyone, get back, all of you. As far as you can." The group moved into the galley. It was too crowded; Viera pressed herself into the corner on the other side of the glass wall. It was closer to Sky and perhaps not as safe, but at least she didn't feel suffocated like she would in the galley.

"Doctor, make her stop," Val pleaded.

"Val, come on, come to the back, stop looking at her," the Doctor coaxed. "Come on, Jethro, you too. Everyone, come on... 50 minutes. That's all we need. 50 minutes till the rescue arrives. And she's not exactly strong, look at her, all she's got is our voices."

"I can't look at her," Val whimpered. That was a bit ironic because Viera's gaze kept returning to Sky without her biding. "It's those eyes."

"'We must not look at goblin men,'" Dee Dee murmured, with the awful echo of Sky's voice on top.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Biff asked.

"It's a poem," the Doctor answered. "Christina Rosetti."

Dee Dee's recitation was almost compulsorily. "'We must not look at goblin men. We must not buy their fruits. Who knows upon what soil they fed. Their hungry, thirsty roots?'"

"Actually," the Doctor spoke up, eying Viera, who'd gone rather pale. "I don't think that's helping."

Jethro and the professor began arguing about whether Sky was something unearthly or simply a very sick woman. Professor Hobbes was still adamant that nothing could possibly live on Midnight.

"Professor, I'm glad you've got an absolute definition of life in the universe," the Doctor interrupted. "But perhaps the universe has got ideas of its own, mmm? Now trust me, I've got previous…" he glanced back at Sky and switched his train of thought. "I think there might well be some... consciousness inside Mrs. Silvestry, but maybe she's still in there. And it's our job to help her."

"Well, you can help her, I'm not going near," Biff dismissed.

"No, I've got to stay back. If she's copying us, maybe the final stage is becoming us. I don't want her becoming me, or things could get a lot worse." The Doctor sounded arrogant, _was_ a bit arrogant, but when Viera thought about it she figured it was true, nonetheless. There was something different about him. They'd all been following his lead easily enough before things had taken a turn for the worse.

"Oh, like you're so special," Val scoffed.

"As it happens, yes I am," the Doctor stated plainly. "So that's decided. We stay back, and we wait. When the rescue ship comes, we can get her to hospital."

Then things got worse all on their own.

"We should throw her out." The hostesses whispered hiss yanked Viera's attention from Sky to her.


	3. 1:3  And They All Fall Down

PART ONE - MIDNIGHT

Chapter Three – And They All Fall Down

_How'd we get from staying clear and finding a way to help Sky, to talk of murder?_ Viera wondered, watching the passengers argue with wide eyes.

"I beg your pardon," Professor Hobbes exclaimed, shocked.

Val was further into the grip of fear and desperate for escape. "Can we do that?" she asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor scoffed, appalled by the suggestion.

Viera knew it was wrong, that they couldn't, that it was murder, but still… the relief of an easy way out, an end to the fear... the idea itched at the back of her mind. _Easy way out? Is that what murder is? What happened to mercy, hm? How could I even consider…_ She felt sick with herself, with all of them.

"That _thing_, whatever it is, killed the driver, and the mechanic, and I don't think she's finished yet," the hostess spat.

"She can't even move!" the Doctor protested. Viera glanced at Sky. She didn't look scared at all, for all that she was saying the words herself, talking about her own murder. She didn't seem to feel anything.

"Look at her, look at her eyes! She killed Joe, and she killed Claude, and we're next."

"She's still doing it," Biff grumbled. He walked closer to Sky, shoving past the Doctor who was watching them all with horror in his eyes. "Just stop it! Stop talking! Stop it!" Biff yelled.

Viera flinched and Val protested. "Biff, don't, sweetheart," she pleaded with her husband.

"But she won't stop!" Biff returned to the group. "We can't throw her out though. We can't even open the doors," he stated. Like that was the only reason they couldn't kill Sky.

"No one is getting thrown out," the Doctor stated coldly. For a moment the whole room stopped. He squared off with Biff, who finally backed off and moved on.

"Yes, we can. Cos there's an air pressure seal," Dee Dee stated, fracturing the peace as she turned to the hostess. "Like when you opened the cabin door, you weren't pulled out, you had a couple of seconds, cos it takes the pressure-wall about six seconds to collapse. Well, six seconds exactly. That's enough time to throw someone out."

"Thanks, Dee Dee, just what we needed," the Doctor mocked sarcastically. Val, Dee Dee and the hostess ignored him and continued talking about the logistics of murdering Sky and whatever was inside her.

"Now listen, all of you," the Doctor finally demanded their attention. "For all we know that's a brand new life form over there. And if it's come inside to discover us, than what's it found? This little bunch of humans, what d'you amount to? A murder? Cos this is where you decide. You decide who you are. Could you actually murder her? Any of you? Really? Or are you better than that?" For a minute, everyone was quiet, studying each other. The words were right, inspiring even, but it was hard to absorb anything but Sky's echoing voice and the constant clawing of fear inside.

"I'd do it," the hostess broke the silence. Biff and Val joined in.

"I think we should," even Dee Dee was in agreement. The Doctor tried to argue with her, but the mousey young woman was adamant. "I want to go home. I'm sorry. I want to be safe," Dee Dee explained.

"You'll be safe," the Doctor assured desperately. "Any minute now. The rescue truck is on its way."

"But what happens then, Doctor? If it takes that thing back to the Leisure Palace, if that thing reaches civilization, what if it spreads?" the hostess reasoned.

"No," the Doctor argued. "When we get back to the base, I'll be there to contain it."

"You haven't done much so far!" Val pointed out.

Her husband chimed in instantly. "You're just standing in the back with the rest of us!"

"She's dangerous," the hostess stated. "It's my job to see this vessel is safe, and we should get rid of her."

It surprised Viera a bit that Professor Hobbes was the voice of reason. "Now hang on, I think, perhaps we're all going a little bit too far."

"At last!" the Doctor exclaimed in relief. He reached out to pat the professor on the shoulder. "Thank you."

"Two people are dead!" the hostess argued.

"Don't make it a third! Viera? Jethro? What d'you say?" the Doctor turned towards them both.

"We can't," Viera stated simply, almost relieved to have the opportunity to be heard despite her fears of public speeches. "Sky might still be in there. And even that… whatever it is inside her, it hasn't hurt anyone in here. I'm sorry about the pilot and the mechanic. I am." she stated, looking at the hostess. "But maybe it didn't understand that they couldn't survive in the light like it did. Maybe it was just desperate to get in. She hasn't even _moved_."

"I'm not killing anyone," Jethro stated when their attention turned to him.

"Thank you," the Doctor sighed.

Val protested. "He's just a boy!"

"What, so I don't get a vote?" Jethro complained.

"There isn't a vote, it's not happening! Ever," the Doctor snapped. His voice sounded dangerous, even with Sky's echo behind it. "If you try to throw her out that door, you'll have to get past me first." For a moment Viera thought it had worked, then the hostess spoke up again.

"Okay."

"Fine by me," Biff agreed.

_This is very, very, very bad. What if they actually try to chuck him out?_ The fear was still getting stronger. Nobody was thinking clearly really. All it would take was a couple minutes of survival instinct and terror overriding moral inhibitions and the whole passenger list was capable of murder. _This can't be happening. God, please make this stop. Don't let this end with someone dead._

"Oh now you're being stupid," the Doctor scolded. "Just think about it! Could you actually take hold of someone and throw them out of that door?"

"Calling me a coward?" Biff challenged, getting in his face.

"How is that cowardice?" Viera demanded, not that anyone was listening.

"Who put you in charge, anyway?" Val asked, backing up her husband.

Even the professor chimed in. "I'm sorry, but… you're a doctor of what, exactly?"

"He wasn't even booked in," the hostess supplied. "Rest of you, tickets in advance. He just turned up out of the blue." Viera watched silently as the groups' suspicions grew; the Doctor looked startled, almost overwhelmed by the sudden turn of hostility.

"Where from?" Val questioned.

"I'm just… travelling," the Doctor faltered, stepping back. "I'm a traveler, that's all."

"Like an immigrant?" Val asked.

"Who were you talking to?" the hostess questioned, distrust dripping from her words. "Before you got on board, you were talking to someone, who was that?"

"Just Donna. Just my friend."

"And what were you saying to her?" Biff asked.

"He hasn't even told us his name," Val pointed out.

Jethro was watching the Doctor warily too. "Thing is, Doctor, you've been loving this."

The Doctor looked crushed. "Oh, Jethro, not you too."

"No, but ever since all the trouble started, you've been loving it," Jethro continued.

"It has to be said, you do seem to have a certain... glee," the professor joined in.

Even Viera had to agree that was true enough, but that didn't mean the Doctor hadn't been sympathetic or concerned for the rest of them. For all his intrigue, Viera was certain he'd been honestly trying to help. Hadn't he?

"All right, I'm interested, yes," the Doctor admitted. "I can't help it, cos whatever's inside her, it's brand new, and that's fascinating!"

Viera listened with half an ear to the growing suspicions of the others, glancing from them to the Doctor and back to Sky, whom everyone else seemed to have forgotten about for the time being. Fear and doubt tore at her reasoning and her admittedly irrational attachment to the Doctor. What if she was only so sure of him because she _wanted_ him to be someone good? Ms. Tarrio aside, he was really the only person she'd had a true conversation with. He'd been friendly and kind, and Viera tended to lean a bit too heavily on first impressions.

Even that was a bit odd, though. Usually Viera was wary of people who were too charming, too friendly. She'd taken the Doctor's kindness at face value, but what if she'd been wrong? What if he _had_ been playing some sort of game, avoiding suspicion? What if he _did_ have something to do with the disaster?

If she was going to take a risk, would she rather trust the Doctor and be wrong, or turn on him and be wrong?

"BECAUSE I'M CLEVER!" the Doctor yelled, overwhelmed by the accusations and questioning. It quite effectively snapped Viera out of her thoughts. They all stared at him, silent for a moment. Viera wondered exactly what she'd missed.

"I see. Well. That makes things clear," the professor muttered, offended.

Biff was more aggressive. "And what are we, then? Idiots?"

_Maybe_, Viera thought. The Doctor tried to backtrack.

"That's not what I meant."

"If you're clever then what are we?" Dee Dee asked.

"You've been looking down on us from the moment we walked in," Val chimed in.

"Even if he goes, he's practically volunteered," added the hostess.

_We can't seriously be considering killing the Doctor and Sky._ Viera bit her lip.

"Oh come on, just listen to yourself, please!" the Doctor entreated.

Biff jumped on the idea. "What d'you mean? We throw him out as well?"

There was a pause. "If we have to," the hostess stated. The Doctor was beginning to look scared, really scared, not just worried or concerned.

"Just like that?" Viera demanded quietly. For a moment she had their attention. "How'd we end up seeing double-murder as an option? Do you hear what you're saying? You can't be serious." Biff looked defiant and the hostess wouldn't look at her.

"Look, just..." the Doctor tried to find the right words, quite the struggle since nothing he'd said seemed to have much impact with Sky's echo beneath it and all the hostility in the air. "Right, sorry, yes, hold on, just... I know, you're scared, and so am I, look at me, I am. But we have all got to calm down and cool off and think."

"Perhaps you could tell us your name," Professor Hobbes suggested.

"What does it matter?" the Doctor asked instead.

_Wrong answer_, Viera sighed mentally.

"Then tell us," the hostess demanded.

The Doctor took a breath, almost bracing himself before he answered. "John Smith."

"Your real name," the professor stated.

"He's lying, look at his face," Biff added.

"His eyes are the same as hers!" Val accused. That wasn't true, not at all, but no one seemed to care.

Jethro chimed in then everyone was talking all at once again.

"Now listen to me. Listen to me right now!" the Doctor tried, growing desperate, cornered. "Because you need me, all of you, if we're gonna get out of this, then you _need_ me."

"So you keep saying!" Professor Hobbes replied scornfully. "You've been repeating yourself more than her."

"If anyone's in charge, it should be the Professor, he's the expert!" Val exclaimed.

_He's also the one who said life on Midnight was impossible._

Jethro tried to get his parent's attention to little avail. Finally he raised his voice.

"Look at her!" he snapped, staring at Sky.

"She's stopped," Dee Dee stated wonderingly. She had, at that. Sky was silent though she hadn't quit watching them. She hadn't moved.

"When did she-?" the Doctor stopped as Sky spoke with him. "No, she hasn't, she's still doing it."

"She looks the same to me-" Val started. Sky was silent again. "No, she's stopped! Look, I'm talking and she's not!" Relief washed over Viera, but it built back up into worry as the Doctor walked closer to Sky.

"Doctor..." she murmured, wanting him to stop. He was too intent on Sky to listen. Curiosity killed more than just the cat.

Biff and the hostess spoke as well, with no reaction from the blond, but when the Doctor spoke…

"Sky? What are you doing?" he asked carefully. Sky said the words in time with him. The other passengers exclaimed. Sky didn't mimic any of them. "Why me? Why are you doing this?"

"She won't leave him alone!" Dee Dee observed.

"You see?" Val demanded. "I said so, she's with him."

"They're together!" Biff agreed.

Professor Hobbes was still offended by his earlier outburst and still frightened. "How do you explain it, Doctor, if you're so clever?"

"I don't know!" the Doctor replied. "Sky, stop it. I said stop it. Just stop it!" he demanded with what sounded to Viera like carefully controlled fear. He kept stepping closer to Sky.

"Doctor…" Viera cautioned again as he crouched down next to Sky. _This is a bad idea. This is a very bad idea. I really think we should all just shut up, stay quiet._ The Doctor gave a brief glance her way but ignored her aborted plea. Viera bit her lip, staying back by the glass of the galley.

"Mrs Silvestry, I'm trying to understand. You've captured my speech, what for? What d'you need?" the Doctor asked. "You need my voice in particular. The cleverest voice in the room. Why? Cos I'm the only one who can help? Oh, I'd love that to be true, but your eyes… They're saying something else. Listen to me. Whatever you want, if it's life, or form, or consciousness, or voice, you don't have to steal it. You can find it without hurting anyone. And I'll help you. That's a promise. So. What d'you think?" the Doctor asked, Sky speaking with him all the way.

Then just milliseconds before the Doctor spoke the words himself, Sky spoke. "Do we have a deal?"

"Do we have a deal?"

Viera felt cold. The Doctor was the one echoing Sky now. Realization spread across the group, disbelief and astonishment.

"Oh, look at that," Sky spoke, the Doctor's echo further behind her. "I'm ahead of you." She sounded… smug, perhaps? Almost. While the Doctor's usually enthusiastic voice was just a bit more monotone despite his copying her intonation. Viera finally slipped past the others and approached the two crouched on the floor.

"Doctor?" Viera asked cautiously. He didn't so much as glance at her. His gaze seemed locked on Sky, but rather than the blank face she'd had when mimicking, Viera could see horror in his. "Doctor, I think you should come away from there." Viera reminded herself that nothing had infected her when she'd touched Sky, and she wrapped a hand around the Doctor's nearest arm. "_Can_ you come away from there?" she asked, tugging lightly. He didn't move.

He started shaking. It was slight, nothing Viera would have noticed if she hadn't been right next to him. Like he was fighting it.

"I think it's moved," Sky stated, the same words pulled reluctantly from the Doctor's throat. "I think it's letting me go."

The other passengers marveled and speculated. Viera couldn't take her eyes off the look on the Doctor's face. She crouched next to him and took one of his hands in hers.

"Mrs. Silvestry? Is that you?" Professor Hobbes asked. Viera watched the blond warily as her expression changed for the first time since the attack.

"Yes, yes, it's me," Sky replied. She didn't sound scared or desperate the way Viera thought she should, all things considered. "I'm coming back, listen. It's me!" Sky could move, hands and head and expression. Whatever held her still was loosening, but now the Doctor couldn't move.

"Like it's passed into the Doctor," Jethro finished Viera's thoughts. "It's transferred. Whatever it is, it's gone inside him."

That didn't mean the blond was really Sky. There was something… predatory there, Viera was sure of it. Sky was still off.

"No, that's not what happened," Dee Dee protested, studying Sky.

"But look at her!" Val exclaimed.

"Look at me. I can move. I can feel again. I'm coming back to life," Sky stated. The Doctor's echo seemed even further behind her than before. Viera tightened her grip on his hand. "And look at him. He can't move."

"She's not acting like herself," Viera spoke up, voice shaking. She turned to Sky. "You're not acting like yourself."

"She's probably still in shock!" Val defended Sky, as though ten minutes ago she hadn't been contemplating chucking her out of the shuttle into the sun. "Poor thing's been through something awful."

"Help me," Sky spoke up, only briefly narrowing her eyes at Viera. She turned her gaze to the others. "Professor, get me away from him. Please." The echoing plea dragged from the Doctor's lips sounded sincere, far more scared than Sky's words had been.

Professor Hobbes came forward, skirting nervously around the Doctor. "This isn't right," Viera protested, firmly in the way. He'd have to crawl over her. "Can't anyone see she's still acting strange? Maybe it's got both of them."

"Out of the way, child," the professor demanded, pushing at Viera's back with the side of one leg. She didn't move until he shoved her over. Viera caught herself with herself on her right hand, ending up in front of the Doctor more than beside him. "She needs our help," Professor Hobbes insisted defensively.

"Fifteen minutes ago you were all talking about the best way to kill her," Viera reminded him sharply. She moved further out of the way as Sky took the professor's hand and followed him. Viera was _not _comfortable with touching her. "Look at her eyes," she pleaded. "I don't think that's Sky."

She was ignored as the professor took Sky back to the others. It was the Doctor they were all afraid of presently.

"Oh, thank you," Sky sighed. The words were reluctant, forced as they left the Doctor's lips.

"Are you fighting it?" Viera murmured, only listening to the others with half an ear. "Are you still in there? Aware of this?" She looked into the Doctor's eyes, searching. He looked scared to her, but he was still frozen.

"It was so cold. I couldn't breathe," the Doctor repeated Sky's words. Even if that wasn't Sky, Viera couldn't help wondering whether that was really what the Doctor was feeling right then.

"If you can hear me in there, we're going to figure this out. We'll find a way to get you free," Viera promised quietly, taking up his other hand. She knew she might be lying, of course. She had no idea if any of them were going to get back alive, let alone whether they could reverse whatever had been done to the Doctor. But she wanted to believe they could and, more than that, she wanted the Doctor to believe they could. He'd comforted her hours ago; it was only fair she try to return the favor.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor stated, still echoing Sky. "I must've scared you so much." It was what the others wanted to hear, but it still didn't seem right to Viera. Sky, the Sky they'd met earlier… shouldn't she be panicked? Frantic? Even furious that they'd threatened to kill her?

At least she wasn't the only one with doubts. "I wouldn't touch her," Dee Dee cautioned as Val hugged Sky.

"But it's gone, she's clean, it passed into him," Biff argued. Viera was fairly sure he just didn't like the Doctor.

"That's not what happened," Dee Dee insisted. Clever Dee Dee, at least when she was truly thinking and not giving in to her fears.

"Thank you for your opinion, Dee, but clearly, Mrs Silvestry has been released," the professor stated, once again sure that he knew and understood everything in his tiny little world.

"No," Dee Dee tried again.

"Just leave her alone! She's safe, isn't she?" Val demanded. Poor Val, who wanted so desperately for things to be alright. "Jethro? It's let her go, hasn't it?"

"Think so, yeah," Jethro answered a bit reluctantly. "Looks like it. Professor?" He shoved some of the responsibility onto someone else.

"I'd say, from observation... the Doctor can't move, and when she was possessed, she couldn't move, so..."

"Well, there we are then! Now the only problem we've got is this Doctor," Biff stated. Somehow Viera didn't think he meant to solve that problem by helping.

"It's inside his head," Sky stated, the Doctor echoing.

_Oh hell, here we go,_ Viera thought as the others' attention finally returned to them.

"It killed the driver," Sky continued, still far too calm for the words she was saying. "And the mechanic. And now it wants us."

"I said so!" Val exclaimed.

"He's waited so long. In the dark. And the cold. And the diamonds," Sky kept talking, forcing the Doctor to say the words spelling out his own doom as well. For once, Viera was pretty sure Sky was telling the truth about whatever had infected her. "Until you came. Bodies so hot. With blood. And pain."

Val was growing frantic again. "Stop! Oh my God, make him stop. Someone make him stop!"

"But she's saying it!" Dee Dee protested, only to be told to shut up. "But it's not him, it's her. He's just repeating!"

And everyone was talking at once more. It was terrifying listening to the conversation descend into accusations and arguments again. She could see where it was leading. Viera couldn't imagine how much worse it had to be for the Doctor, unable to defend himself, helpless at the mercy of the people too eager to be rid of the threat. Dee Dee was defending the Doctor, and the hostess, but the others were louder. Viera couldn't think of anything to say that might stop them. They were beyond reasoning, too busy _shouting_ to listen. There was just too much fear, too much noise.

Then they turned on Dee Dee, unable to handle the voice of reason when all they wanted to do was _react_. "I think you should be quiet, Dee," the professor stated.

"Well, I'm only saying..."

"And that's an order! You're making a fool of yourself! Pretending you're an expert in mechanics and hydraulics, when I can tell you, you are nothing more than average, at best! Now shut up!" Viera flinched, watching with wide eyes. A smug little smile crossed Sky's face and any doubts she might have had about the blond really being Sky were washed away.

"That's how he does it," Sky stated, the Doctor speaking after her. Truth again, or mostly, which was the most dangerous sort of lie. "He makes you fight. Creeps into your head. And whispers. Listen. Just listen. That's him. Inside."

They panicked. Raged. "Throw him out!" Biff demanded.

"Get him out of my head!"

"Yeah, we should throw him out!"

"Stop it!" Viera finally yelled, desperate. She only had their attention for a moment; she did the best she could with that. "It's not the Doctor, it's Sky! It's still in Sky!"

"Sky's the victim here!" Val protested.

"Look at her! She's enjoying this! The fighting, the fear, driving you to murder. Is this really who you are? Is this who you want to be?"

They were only quiet briefly before Biff shook his head. "We have to get rid of him. Then this will all be over."

"Well don't just talk about it!" Val scolded. "Just… You're useless! Do something!"

"I will! You watch me! I'm gonna throw him out!"

"You _can't_," Viera pleaded. "Don't you dare! Just stop a minute and _think_! Look at her!"

"Yes!" Sky exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at Viera. "Throw him out! Get rid of him!" The Doctor was forced to speak the words himself, the words dragged from his mouth though she could see him struggle against them. He couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't even stop speaking his own death sentence. He was helpless, terrified, and it made Viera sick with fear not knowing if she could keep her promise.

"Now!" Sky ordered.

Biff took the Doctor under the arms and began to drag him towards the door.

"Stop!" Viera pleaded, pulling at his hands. He was stronger than her, but he also had the Doctor's dead weight to contend with.

"Don't!" Dee Dee protested.

"It'll be you next!" Val snapped. Viera heard the hostess object as well and the married couple shouted her down. Biff demanded help from the professor, who hesitated.

"What sort of a man are you? Come on!" Biff ordered. Viera dug her fingernails into his hands as deeply as she could. It pulled a shout from him, and he dropped the Doctor momentarily. "Somebody get her away from me!"

Val grabbed at Viera while Biff picked up the Doctor again. Viera squirmed desperately, dropping her weight to the floor and clawing at the Val's hands. It only took her a moment to get away, and then she was pulling at Biff once more.

"This is _murder_, do you understand that? You're a _murderer_!" Viera yelled. She couldn't get Biff's hands loose so she went for his hair, doing her best to pull it out in handfuls.

"Enough!" Biff shouted, dropping the Doctor. He swung hard and backhanded Viera, throwing her aside. She found herself sprawled in the aisle with an aching cheek and a dazed mind. No one had ever hit her before. She was rather certain it was going to bruise. Viera thought she heard people protesting, but she couldn't make sense of it amongst all the other yelling. _Doctor_, she finally shook her thoughts loose and scrabbled to her feet. The professor was helping Biff pick up the Doctor as Sky forced him to keep speaking those awful words.

"Cast him out! Into the sun! And the night! Do it!" Sky exclaimed, cheered on by Val. She was clearly enjoying it, but Viera didn't bother pointing that out to the others. She had to stop Biff and words didn't work on him.

So Viera climbed onto one of the seats and used the extra height to jump onto Biff's back. She curled her arms around his neck and squeezed as tightly as she could. He choked, more in surprise than anything, and reached back to pull her off. He was the one who got ahold of her hair that time, and he yanked on it hard. The others' were yelling but Viera was too preoccupied to make out the words. Biff pulled hard on her hair again. She bit his ear and tasted blood. _That_ made him yell. People were trying to pull her off them, but all that mattered was that as long as he was fighting her, the Doctor was lying on the floor instead of being pulled out the door. The professor didn't have the guts to drag him out by himself. She was fairly certain. Viera glanced up, wincing, to make sure.

Jethro was helping the professor.

"Do it now!" Sky urged them on, building on the fear and rage infecting their minds. "Faster! That's the way! You can do it!"

"Stop it!" Viera shouted, struggling with all her might as Biff and Val finally pulled her off. She managed to hit and kick them a few times, but she couldn't get free. "Leave him alone! He's not the monster here, you are! _Murderers!_"

"Molto bene!" Sky praised.

"Get him out!" shouted Val.

"Allons-y!" coaxed Sky. "The starlight waits! The emptiness! The Midnight sky!"

The use of the Doctor's words turned out to be a mistake. The hostess recognized the terms the Doctor had used just that morning.

"That's his voice," she murmured, realization stealing across her face. Finally she noticed the smug, happy grin on Sky's face. "She's taken his voice!" But no one was listening. No one was listening.

In a desperate move, the hostess grabbed Sky and pushed the button next to the door. Blinding light filled the shuttle, stopping the fight as everyone screamed and cover their eyes. The hostess stood in the doorway, still holding onto Sky.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six," she counted down to the pressure wall collapsing. Then the hostess and Sky were sucked outside and the door slid shut behind them.

Viera and the Doctor were released, the latter of which gasped for air as he fell to the ground.

"It's gone, it's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone," he repeated, rolling onto his back as he desperately tried to reassure himself, a mantra against the darkness of fear. "It's gone. It's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone." Viera crawled over to him, taking his hand as he finally spoke his own words. His grip on Viera's hand was almost painful, but she didn't care. She held tight, covering their joined hands with her free one as his breathing slowly steadied. Viera didn't look around the room, didn't want to see their faces. She could feel the terror and desperation fading in the back of her own mind; judging by the silence around them she guessed it was fading in theirs as well. She wanted them to understand and regret what they'd nearly done, but she didn't want to have to see it on their faces.

The Doctor sat up slowly, utterly exhausted. He used one of the armrests to pull himself up, leaning on Viera until he could sit up and rest against the side of the seat. She pressed up against him silently, only releasing his hand when he let go to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She didn't mind that either. Viera curled both arms around him as he pulled her close, needing the comfort and warmth of a hug as much as he did, or nearly. He was still catching his breath.

"I said it was her," Val spoke up. Viera glanced up just long enough to see her turn away, looking lost, confused, and a little bit horrified. It made the whole mess more real somehow, and Viera huddled closer to the Doctor, closing her eyes against harsh reality of what had almost been.


	4. 1:4 A Fleeting Farewell

Music is such an important part of the Doctor Who experience (I'm a little obsessed with the soundtrack at the moment), so for anyone one who's interested:

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Viera's Theme: "I Have a Story" by Epic Score**

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PART ONE - MIDNIGHT

Chapter Four – A Fleeting Farewell

They spent the next twenty minutes in silence. Viera stayed at the Doctor's side, arms curled loosely around his waist, listening to the beat of his heart in her ear as it slowly calmed. He was lost in his own thoughts, gaze distant. Every once in a while his arm tightened and his heart sped up, and Viera wondered if he was reliving the past few hours.

"Repeat, Crusader 50, rescue vehicle coming alongside in three minutes, door-seals set to automatic. Prepare for boarding, repeat, prepare for boarding," the shuttle's intercom broke the silence.

"The hostess," the Doctor finally spoke. "What was her name?"

There was a long gap of silence as the passengers glanced at each other, unable to answer. Ashamed. "I don't know," stated the professor admitted finally.

She'd saved the Doctor's life, all their lives really, and none of them had ever thought to ask her name.

They were saved from further contemplation as the rescue team arrived. Suddenly the air was filled with noise again, the rescue team asking questions no one really wanted to answer.

"What happened to you people?" one of the rescuers asked, appalled.

"There were eight passengers on the boarding list," another pointed out. "And what happened to the crew members?"

"The cockpit got torn off," Biff stated when no one else would speak.

"That's impossible," the first man objected. Viera stifled a slightly hysterical laugh. It wasn't looking good for their story if people thought _that_ was the impossible part.

"Can we please just get out of here?" Val begged tearfully.

"Yes, of course," a third rescuer stated apologetically, motioning people to the door. "We will have to take statements on the way back though."

Even in the rescue vehicle the other passengers avoided the Doctor and Viera as best they could. That was fine with Viera. She'd really rather never see them again. She sat close enough to the Doctor that their shoulders were touching. A few minutes went by before she felt his hand curl around hers. Viera glanced up and offered a weak smile. He didn't return it, but the grim expression on his face lightened a little and that was enough.

One of the rescuers took the time to check people for injuries while another coaxed the story out Professor Hobbes, aided occasionally by Biff and Val when the rescuer expressed disbelief. They didn't falter until they got to the end. Eventually they skipped over the part where they'd tried to kill the Doctor to explain that it had been the hostess who saved them. Neither the Doctor nor Viera spoke up to fill in the missing part of the story.

"Are you injured?" the rescuer with dark hair asked, crouching in front of Viera. She shook her head.

"Just a bit bruised," she stated quietly, oddly reluctant to hear her own voice after everything. "I got thrown into one of the armrests when the shuttle was attacked." She touched fingers to the sore spot beneath her ribs.

"Mind if I take a look? If anything's injured internally you'll need the medic unit ASAP." Viera shrugged her acceptance, lifting the hem of her shirt away from her stomach.

"It's sore, but it doesn't feel tight or anything," she offered as he pressed around the injury with careful fingers. She tried to ignore the Doctor's gaze following his every move.

"Did you bite your tongue then?" the rescuer asked. She must have looked confused because he clarified. "You've got a bit of blood there," he explained, motioning to the side of his mouth.

Viera felt heat seep into her cheeks; she didn't really want to explain that. "It's not mine," was all she said, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. She noticed then that she had blood under her fingernails as well. Viera curled her hand into a loose fist, hiding her fingernails against the seat. She didn't want more questions, though the rescuer had probably already seen. He was kind enough not to mention it if he had. He gave Viera a friendly smile and let her be.

"You alright, sir?" he asked the Doctor.

"Fine, thanks," the Doctor answered immediately. The rescuer nodded and moved on to Biff, who was still sporting scratched hands and a torn ear. Viera scrubbed at her mouth again.

"It's gone," the Doctor stated. Viera glanced over to find him studying her.

"Are those bite marks on Mr. Cane's ear?" he asked. He'd been a bit too… preoccupied to notice the details in the chaos of the shuttle at that point.

Viera blushed harder. She couldn't tell whether the Doctor was amused or appalled by the idea. "Yeah," she admitted. It was definitely amusement that flickered through his eyes then, though it never quite evolved into a smile.

"And this?" the Doctor questioned, holding up their joined hands to show the blood beneath her nails. She was going to have to scrub those hands when they got back to the spa.

"Mr. Cane as well," Viera replied.

"And this?" he asked more quietly, something a little bit dangerous creeping into his voice. He cupped her face long enough to run his thumb beneath the bruise on her cheek. The light touch made her shiver though his hands were warm.

"That too." Even after everything they'd done to him, everything they'd _tried_ to do, that bruise still seemed to spark more anger in him than anything else. It was subdued, carefully controlled, but Viera could see it in his eyes, the set of his mouth.

"I'm fine," Viera assured. _I'm not the one they were dragging out into the sun_. The Doctor studied her a moment before dropping his hand and settling back against the seat.

"Donna," Viera blurted out a moment later. He'd spend enough time lost in his thoughts. It was time for a distraction. "You have a friend named Donna" she clarified, trying to recover her conversational skills. She very carefully avoided reminding him where she'd heard the name since he'd mentioned it while the others were hurling accusations his way. "Is she at the Leisure Palace waiting for you?"

"Yeah," he replied simply, looking thoughtful. Viera wondered if he was imagining the way things might have gone if she'd come on the shuttle the way Viera was.

"What's she like?" Viera queried. The Doctor gave her a look like he knew what she was doing, but he answered anyways.

"Donna's… spirited," he started, a fond little smile briefly lightening his expression.

Viera spent the rest of the trip back plying him for stories about Donna. It was a safe topic and the Doctor seemed to have an endless supply of tales. They kept to themselves in the back corner of the rescue shuttle and nobody bothered them. The only interruption came when the Leisure Palace radioed the shuttle to say there was a very aggressive redhead _demanding_ to talk to some doctor. The driver called him up and handed over the radio. Viera trailed behind out of curiosity as much as a distinct desire to not be left in the passenger portion alone with the others.

"Donna!" the Doctor greeted. It sounded cheerful enough, though his accompanying smile was brief.

"I've been worried sick!" a woman's voice bellowed through the coms. The Doctor winced and turned down the volume. "I told you to be careful! But no, what kind of trouble could you possibly get into on an eight hour bus trip, right?"

"Donna," the Doctor protested half-heartedly to the scolding. He glanced at Viera who smiled crookedly, honestly amused by the chagrin on his face. It felt good to smile again and really mean it.

"Are you alright?" Donna shifted tactics abruptly, though her tone was no less demanding. "All your limbs attached and everything?"

The Doctor's expression softened. "I'm fine. Not a scratch on me."

Donna sounded exactly the way he'd described her: spirited and loud but with a big heart.

"I'm gonna give the driver back his coms now," the Doctor stated. "I'll see you at the station?"

"I'll be there," Donna replied. "Try not to get into any more trouble on the way, alright? Don't make me come get you." Meaning she would, of course, if he needed her to.

"Do my best. Over and out." He handed back the radio and turned back towards the passenger section.

Viera took his hand again as they walked past the others, not looking at them. "She sounds brilliant," she commented.

"I think you mean loud," the Doctor corrected. Viera gave a small grin and he mirrored it. "Oh, alright. She is brilliant, but don't you tell her I said that."

Donna was indeed waiting for the Doctor when they got back, though they had to wade through a small crowd of people, curious tourists and security personnel to get to her. Viera never quite made it there. She was accosted by Ms. Tarrio on the way.

"Oh, Viera, I'm so sorry," the usually composed professional was gone, leaving behind only the soft-hearted social worker. Viera had never seen her so worked up; she had always been cool and calm. Ms. Tarrio pulled her into a tight hug as soon as she was in reach. The Doctor paused, but Viera waved him on, spying a tall red head in a white robe a short distance away. She hoped he'd say goodbye before they left. Viera watched the Doctor get pulled into a hug of his own before turning her attention to Ms. Tarrio.

"I'm alright. It's okay, really."

"I should have gone with you. I never should have let you go alone," Ms. Tarrio insisted. She pulled back, scowling. Viera was a bit taken aback until she remembered the bruise on her face. "Who did that to you?" Ms. Tarrio demanded.

Viera was very tempted to sick her angry guardian on Mr. Cane. Her reluctance to revisit the reasons for their fight changed her mind. "It doesn't matter. He got the worst of it." Ms. Tarrio looked stubborn. "Honestly, I am an adult. I can, occasionally, handle myself," Viera reminded her with a faint smile.

Ms. Tarrio sighed. "You're still my responsibility."

"Believe me, I'm glad for that," Viera assured. "But right now all I really want is to get off this planet." Viera frowned slightly as she remembered why Ms. Tarrio had missed the shuttle. "You have another case here though."

"It's finished," Ms. Tarrio stated. "If you want to shower and change clothes back at the room, I'll have our things packed. We'll be out of here in no time."

Viera gave a sigh of relief. "Good." She glanced to the side, but the Doctor and Donna had wondered off. "There's just one thing I need to do."

Ms. Tarrio hugged Viera one last time before letting go to straighten her dress suit. "I'll see you back at the room then? Don't take too long or I'm libel to send someone looking for you."

"See you," Viera agreed. Ms. Tarrio headed for their rooms, stopping a porter on the way, presumably to ask for someone to pack their bags and get them passage on the next ship out. Viera trotted off to where she'd last seen the Doctor.

It took a bit to find him, even asking everyone she passed whether they'd seen him. Eventually she caught him sitting with Donna at a small table. Viera stopped a few feet away, catching her breath from trotting down the halls. Now that she'd found him she didn't know what to say.

The Doctor rescued her. "Viera! 'D Like you to meet Donna. Donna, this is Viera," he introduced, standing to motion from one woman to the other.

"Nice to meet you," Viera said, offering her hand a bit awkwardly.

"Pleasure's mine," Donna replied, grinning.

"I can't stay long," Viera stated, turning back to the Doctor. "We're getting off this planet as quick as we can. I just… I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye." Really, she wasn't sure she wanted to say goodbye at all. They'd only known each other for a handful of hours, but the time had been intense and he was still her first friend, her state-appointed guardian aside. But she wasn't sure how to ask him to stay in touch. _Do people still use phones? Emails? There has to be some way they all keep in touch. Video conferencing?_

"Ah, yes, that's probably best," the Doctor agreed, looking a bit disconcerted at the separation as well.

"Can I see you again?" Viera blurted out, flushing red as the words escaped her. "I mean, I don't really know how you keep in touch here but…" She bit her lip and glanced up, feeling a little apologetic about her intense urge to cling. "I'd hate to never talk to you again. But then I couldn't blame you if you wanted to put all this behind you," _myself included,_ "so if you'd rather..." Viera murmured, looking down at her nervously twisting hands. She made herself shove them in her pockets.

"Where are you headed?" the Doctor asked casually.

"Prístav," Viera answered automatically.

"Lovely place!" he exclaimed, smiling slightly. "Tell you what. It should take you about a week's worth of travel. We'll meet you there. I'll show the two of you the Silver Fields of Valor," he added, including Donna.

"Really?" She grinned, relief and excitement erasing any former embarrassment.

"Sure! I could use a vacation from this vacation," the Doctor said wryly.

"Oh good," Viera sighed, too happy to care any longer that he might think her too attached. A clock down the hall chimed out the hour and she glanced back down the hall. "I'd best get back before Ms. Tarrio calls in the Coast Guard." She turned back to the pair of travelers. "It was nice to meet you Donna." Then before she could talk herself out of it, Viera flung her arms around the Doctor in a brief hug. "I'll see you on Prístav." She gave a little wave and saw them do the same before turning to walk back down the hall.

"Guess we know where we're going next," Viera heard the Doctor say as she turned around the corner, still smiling.

She had no way of knowing then that none of them would ever make it to Prístav.


	5. 2:1 Unexpected Landings

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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**Nenavist's Refrain: "The Time Has Come" by Epic Score**

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PART TWO - NENAVIST

Chapter One – Unexpected Landings

"Good to be home," the Doctor murmured, running his hands over the controls of the TARDIS. He shook himself free of the quiet moment as Donna shut the door behind her.

"Alright!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Pristav, two weeks in the future, here we come!" He leapt from one station to another, flipping switches, pulling knobs, pressing buttons. "Hold on!" the Doctor warned, grinning.

He and Donna both yelled as the TARDIS shuddered and shook, enjoying the ride. Then it jolted, hard enough to throw them both to the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Donna demanded over the noise of alarms and the whining of the TARDIS.

"I'm not sure," the Doctor replied, struggling to his feet. The ride smoothed out a bit into the normal sort of turbulence.

"Something pulled us off course," he mused. Then the TARDIS landed with a shudder. "She seems fine now." He flipped a few switches and adjusted the screen. "This is definitely _not_ Pristav."

"Then where is it?" Donna asked, straightening her mused clothes as she stepped close enough to see the screen. "_When_ is it?"

"Right time; wrong planet," the Doctor answered with a sly grin. "Wanna take a look?"

"When have I ever said no?" she replied, smiling back.

They slipped out of the TARDIS and their smiles faded abruptly. The time travelers found themselves on a battlefield. The rocky landscape was covered in scattered bits of broken machinery, weapons, and bodies as far as the eye could see in one direction. A spaceship had dug a furrow into the ground nearby; evidence of a crash landing. Two distinct races lay dead upon the dark stony ground. One race was the same dark grey as the planet, with thick leathery skin and pale amber eyes. The other was dark maroon, scaled except for a bright furred ruff around their necks, wrists, and ankles. Both species were mostly humanoid. To the right of the TARDIS stood a great wall, several stories high, marred by attempts to breach it but still standing strong.

"We should go back," the Doctor prompted, taking Donna's arm and turning her forcefully away from the terrible sight. The click of released safeties and the glowing barrels of half a dozen guns met them. Six of the grey-skinned species in uniforms glared at them with cold suspicion. "Or not…" They put their hands up slowly.

"How did you get here?" one of the soldiers demanded.

"Oh, you know, just passing through," the Doctor answered. "Matter of fact, we were just about to be on our way again."

"You will be taken to the general," the same soldier stated. His amber eyes darted to the TARDIS, then to the soldiers on his right. "Bring the box." He motioned towards the massive wall with his gun. Donna looked at the Doctor, who gave a very slight nod, then they followed directions and walked to the wall. Donna focused very hard on the wall and the path of her own feet, trying desperately not to look at the battlefield.

"You're Bolest, aren't you?" the Doctor asked, expression serious. He didn't appreciate being held at gunpoint, he especially didn't appreciate _Donna_ being held at gunpoint, and he held little respect for the war-minded Bolest society to begin with.

One of the soldiers grunted what he took as an affirmative.

"Which would mean they're the Spor," the Doctor continued, nodding towards the scores of dead. The soldiers hissed as one, disgust and rage twisting their faces. The Doctor ignored them to turn to Donna, even as a door in the wall slid open and they were motioned through. "The Bolest and the Spor both evolved on this planet, but a few dozen millennia ago they turned on each other. They've been at war ever since."

"Ah, but today all that changes," a new voice, strong and commanding spoke out. They glanced up to see another Bolest walking towards them. He was confident, collected, and wore a slightly different uniform from the others.

"The general, I presume," the Doctor greeted calmly.

"General Mocichtivy," he replied. "And you are?"

"I'm the Doctor. This is Donna."

"We found them on the edge of the battlefield with this," the soldier stated, motioning to the TARDIS. The general walked once around the box, considering.

"Take it to Storage 12. We'll get the scientists to look at it later," the general commanded. "As for you two, what are you doing on our planet?"

"This is just a mistake, really," Donna assured him. "We were headed for somewhere completely different, but genius-boy here landed us on the wrong planet."

"Is that so?" General Mocichtivy questioned, studying them both with hard eyes. Then he gave a slight smile. "Perhaps that is fortunate for you. You come to us on the eve of our greatest achievement. You will remain here with us to witness history!"

"Well, that all sounds like great fun," the Doctor chimed in as they were guided down a hallway. It looked like everything behind the wall was part of one massive building. The soldiers came with. They passed a lot of Bolest in the halls, some in military uniform, some in what looked like lab coats. "But I do have a question for you. The ship outside that crashed on your battlefield… What happened to the passengers?"

"I don't know what you mean," the general stated, raising an eyebrow. The Doctor was not amused.

"The _ship_ outside. The one with _Midnight Luxury Cruisers_ written across it. What happened to the people onboard?" the Doctor demanded coolly. Donna looked at him with wide eyes.

"I'm afraid I've received no word of a ship crash," the general responded. "But it is possible it has simply been overlooked. It has been a busy day for us. A historic day." He slanted a look in the Doctor's direction. "Is it important?"

"Lives are always important," the Doctor answered glibly, a fake smile on his face. Donna couldn't pull off the unworried look, but no one seemed to be paying her much mind.

The general merely hummed and moved on. "Aside from being best stalked military best on the continent, this is also our greatest research lab. We have the most brilliant minds in seven galaxies working here," General Mocichtivy boasted, leading the way into a great lab full of computers. The walls were covered in screens showing complicated formulas running through various scenarios. "They have accomplished the impossible. They have found a way to end this war."

"_Win_ the war, you mean," the Doctor corrected grimly, exploring the room.

"That is the only way it will ever end. Complete destruction of the Spor is the only way to bring peace. Nenavist itself will strike them down!"

"Some peace!" Donna spat incredulously. "You're talking about murder! A massacre! How maybe millions of people are you planning on killing?"

"Four and half billion," the Doctor answered for him, voice thick with disgust and anger. "Look at these calculations," he murmured, gaze scanning the screens restlessly. "If these are all correct they could… No…" he thought aloud, shaking his head slightly without ever looking away from the screen. "It's too much. It'd kill anyone who tried. Bolest don't have the brain capacity for this."

"Correct, Doctor," the general agreed. "That is why we needed to find our conduct elsewhere."

The Doctor turned a dark look his way, carefully controlled rage boiling beneath his calm surface. "The ship from Midnight. _You_ waylaid the ship on its way to Pristav."

"Indeed." General Mocichtivy sounded _proud_ at their discovery. "There's so much potential in the human mind. With just a bit of work they make a perfect conduct. The first test subjects couldn't handle the strain, poor things. Burnt up from the inside out. But we've perfected the process now. Really it's a shame all the older adults insisted on going first. If they hadn't protected the girl they might have lived. Our current subject had some measure of talent to begin with. She's become the perfect conduct. She will seal our victory!"

"And die in the process?" Donna demanded.

"She will be hailed as a hero," General Mocichtivy dismissed. "It is a great honor. A fine death."

"Who is she?" the Doctor questioned insistently. "_Who_ did you leave alive?"

The general scoffed. "We hardly asked for names. Tell you what," he said, checking his watch. "The scientists should have her ready by now. I'll let you see her for yourselves." He was so confident that there was nothing they could do that he didn't even hesitate.

The Doctor shared a glance with Donna, then turned from the screens. "Show us."

The general and his soldiers led them through the complex, past room after room of laboratories, computers, and armories. They stopped when they reached the center of the building, the biggest room yet.

Then they saw Viera. She was standing in the center of the room, body and expression slack and compliant to the point that she had to be held up by clear supports. They'd taken most of her clothes, leaving her in simple black underthings. Her exposed skin was covered in a complex pattern made with black paint. The pattern ran like growing vines from her hands and feet, curling around her limbs in intertwining coils to cover her torso, twisting into knots over her heart and solar plexus. It grew sparse as it reached her neck, the coils of the pattern fading into nothing except for two thick curls that reached up to each temple.

Hundreds of thin, delicate cables were inserted into each of her hands and feet, a few here and there on the rest of her body. They looked a bit like artificial hair, they were so thin and so many. The other ends of the cords fed into the clear glass-like capsule that surrounded Viera. Thicker cords ran from the base of that to what looked like four large generators situated around the girl's shell. Each generator was wired to the computers that covered nearly all the walls of the room as well as having a massive cord that fed into a hole in the floor.

"What have you done to her?" the Doctor demanded, rushing to the encapsulated girl with Donna close behind.

"Careful," the general warned calmly. "If you pull loose any of the cords she'll die. She's wired into the system now. She can't survive without it."

"Viera? Viera look at me." She didn't seem to hear the Doctor, even when he tapped on the capsule. Her half-lidded eyes stared blankly.

"Does she even know what's going on? She looks drugged," Donna observed.

"A chemical compound to prepare the power channels, open her mind and body, release her potential."

"Not to mention making her completely unable to fight back," Donna reproached, glaring. "Great leader, you are. Picking on a helpless girl." The general gave her a condescending look and didn't respond.

"What are the generator things for?" she asked a moment later, trying to find a way to help.

"My dear girl, those aren't generators," General Mocichtivy said scornfully. "Those are power converters, all of them tapped into the heart of Nenavist itself. We had to drill for nearly a decade to reach it."

"Yes, well, creative murder takes so much effort," The Doctor spat. He pointed his sonic screwdriver at Viera, frowning worriedly at the readings. "The paint… it's a compound made for conducting," he concluded grimly.

"Yes," the general sounded pleased that he'd noticed. "Meticulously planned out guides for the power. It will burn channels through her body and mind following our exact specifications."

"What does that mean?" Donna demanded.

"Essentially she'll be hardwired into the planet itself," the Doctor explained grimly. "The core and the surface. She'll have reach over everything for a short time. Then channeling that much power will burn her up. There'll be nothing left of her but a shell," the Doctor spat, scanning cord after cord with his screwdriver in an effort to find some way to unplug her. The general didn't look at all concerned, completely confident that there was nothing the Doctor could do.

"Every Spor. She'll kill every last one of them. Nenavist will be ours."

"You're forcing her to commit genocide."

"She'll be doing the universe a favor."

"_That is not your decision to make!_" the Doctor snapped, standing. He stalked towards the general looking dangerous enough to prompt all the guards in the room to raise their weapons and release the safeties. The general stood his ground, but his smirk faded in the face of the angry Time Lord. The Doctor looked at him the way he looked at the Daleks, mercy worn thin by disgust and rage.

"This is your one chance," the Doctor stated, calm and cold. "Your _only_ chance. Let. Her. Go. Stop this. Or I will stop _you_. By any means necessary."

"You would kill the human girl to get your way?" the general asked, wary but still taunting.

The Doctor clinched his jaw but didn't look away. "I can't let you kill four and half billion people. Viera wouldn't want this."

Something akin to respect eased the distain on the general's expression, but it didn't change his mind. "Shame you'll never get the chance." Even as he spoke, General Mocichtivy flicked his fingers towards one of the scientists, giving the signal.

"No!" the Doctor protested, leaping towards the control board. He was too far away. The scientist flipped the last switch and electricity surged through the room. The control board overloaded and shorted out with an explosion strong enough to throw the scientists back, though it didn't kill them. The Doctor shielded his face from the resulting shower of sparks.

"Doctor!" Donna shouted, pointing towards Viera. He turned in time to see the clear capsule around her crackle with jagged shards of violet lightning being pulled up from the center of the planet by the power conductors. The capsule cracked but rather than shattering as it should have, it simply dissolved in the wake of the violent energy. The lightning redirected into the cords and into Viera. The human woman gave an unearthly shriek as it burned into the painted pathways on her skin, from her hands and feet all the way up to her temples, feeding into her mind.

Donna covered her ears as the scream went on, longer and higher than should have been humanly possible. It echoed through the room, making everyone cringe and try to protect their ears except the Doctor. He flinched but stood watching, horror and sorrow in his eyes.

There was a sudden blast of power and the shriek ceased as everything run by power in the room exploded or shut down, leaving them all in the darkness except for the erratic light of violet lightning shuddering around the collapsed form in the center of the room. The supports holding Viera up had dissolved, leaving her on her hands and knees. Violet energy crackled fitfully over her skin, though the painted pathways burned with a fierce, steady glow. The lightning fizzled through her caramel-colored hair, making it look alive. When Viera finally moved to tilt her head up, her eyes glowed violet, unseeing.

"We've done it," the general murmured, awe in his voice.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really, honestly actually planned on this being a bit longer, having the Doctor and Donna explore the planet, meet some more characters, have to search further for answers… but I already had the ending written and I really just wanted to get to it. So I kinda lost motivation to flesh out the beginning. I hope it doesn't feel terribly rushed.

Also, I think I might have made Donna too quiet. I don't hear her voice in my head nearly so well as the Doctor's I'm afraid. I do love her though; I try not to forget her while I'm writing. Obviously that should be easier when I'm rewriting episodes than when writing my added bits.


	6. 2:2 Genocide

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Energy Tides: "Siren's Call" by Epic Score**

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* * *

**

PART TWO - NENAVIST

Chapter Two – Genocide

The lights flickered back on, as did any computer that hadn't exploded in the overload. No one paid them much mind.

"Viera?" Donna asked shakily, taking a step closer to the young woman still crackling with energy. Her skin looked like a lightning ball, constantly moving power tearing over the surface.

"Careful," the Doctor muttered, pulling Donna to a halt even as he moved to walk closer himself.

"Don't bother. She can't hear you," General Mocichtivy stated.

"She's not aware of anything but her programing," one of the scientists chimed in, turning towards the computers to try to get a reading. The wires that had been connected to Viera had all burned away except for a few left tangled around her feet.

"Viera, can you hear me?" the Doctor ignored them, kneeling a few feet away to peer into her face. He couldn't get any closer without risking exposer to the wildly crackling lightning that arched through the air around her body.

"I told you-" the general started.

"I hear you," came a distracted whisper. The room went silent. Viera blinked, eyes tracking ever so slowly towards the Doctor though her expression remained blank.

"That's impossible," one of the scientists muttered in the background. "Her brain should be catatonic with that much power flowing through it."

"Viera, it's me. The Doctor. Do you remember me?" he asked carefully. Viera didn't answer, her white-violet gaze beginning to drift. "Are you alright?" the Doctor pushed. "Do you understand what I'm asking?"

"It goes so deep," Viera murmured, wonderingly. Then suddenly she flicked her eyes to the side and a lash of lightning followed. It flicked towards the computers where one of the scientists was trying to fix the unexpected holes in her programing. The lightning fried the computer on contact, barely missing the scientist as he leapt back with a yell. Viera didn't seem to notice, gaze already drifting away.

"Viera…"

"Enough of this!" the general interrupted, stepping forward. Viera's head tilted slightly towards him. "Do your duty. We gave you that power for a reason. Find the Spor!"

"Don't!" the Doctor objected. He reached for Viera, but a strand of lightning snapped at his hand, making him flinch back with a hiss. The lighting twisted around Viera in a sphere, strands growing in number until Viera was completely covered by a sphere of snapping, sizzling light.

"Fulfill your purpose! Find the Spor," General Mocichtivy ordered, a cold grin on his face.

"Viera, stop!" pleaded the Doctor.

"You don't have to do this!" chimed in Donna.

The violet sphere splintered into shards of lighting again, thinner, quieter shards. They dove into the ground, stretching away from Viera without ever breaking contact with her. A few skittered across the surface of the floor. The scientists and Donna stepped back, but the general remained where he was.

"Stand your ground!" he ordered. "We are not her targets. Only the Spor will suffer the full wrath of Nenavist."

The Doctor didn't move as the energy crackled at his feet, coiling around them briefly before moving on without harm. It scanned the others the same way then slipped out through the cracks in the doors. The Doctor tried again to reach for Viera but the energy flared and forced him back.

"Bring the monitors online," the general called. "Let us see our victory."

Donna approached Viera as well, ignoring the Doctor's admonishment to 'be careful!'. "You don't wanna do this, Viera," Donna coaxed. "The Doctor told me all about you, you know. Said you've got a good heart. You don't have to do this." Viera's eyes shifted to Donna, but the energy didn't stop flowing from the glowing coils around her skin.

The scientists brought world-wide surveillance onto the screens around the room. It started with the city around them and moved ever outward. The violet-white lightning spread like a living, moving net. It scanned every person it passed, leaving the Bolest alone. But the Spor, the Spor it captured in crackling cages of energy. On the screens people screamed and ran. Some fought back, trying to defend their families. None of it mattered. The light continued relentlessly.

"There's no use running," the general gloated, watching the screens with smug delight. "Soon enough the whole planet will be covered. Then the Spor will be wiped from Nenavist."

"Please," the Doctor begged, hovering as close as he could manage to Viera. "Don't do this. Stop!"

"It hurts," Viera murmured, looking vaguely confused. "They're all so scared…"

"Who's scared?" Donna asked.

"The Spor? You can feel them?" The Doctor looked briefly surprised. He searched Viera's face as desperation began to creep into the blankness. His voice was carefully measured, calm. "Just let them go. They won't be scared anymore."

"They're always scared. Always fighting, dying, _hating._ There's too much," Viera whimpered. It wasn't just power flowing through her mind and body; everything the energy touched fed back into her. The emotions of every Spor she captured, the core of the planet itself. It was overwhelming. Even if she'd been able to consider the option, she couldn't slow the flow of power, let alone stop it. It was too powerful, a flood she could direct but not hold back.

"Let them _go_," the Doctor pleaded.

"I can't. I can't let go. It won't stop."

"Fight it, Viera! You're in control, not the programing!" The energy crackled, wrapping around every Spor it could reach as it continued to spread. On the video screens they could see more and more of them screaming, fighting against the power to no avail.

"I am… everything. I _feel_ everything," Viera murmured, glowing violet eyes staring into space with something akin to horror. Her voice grew increasingly frantic. "The whole planet… burning, bleeding, screaming. Too many voices. So much pain. Make it stop. I have to make it stop. Stop!"

Then energy shifted, encircling everyone native to that world, Bolest included. "This is the only way. It has to be all of them," Viera murmured.

"Let me go! I demand you let me go!" the general ordered frantically, flailing as the energy caged him. The scientists tried to run. They barely made it past the door before they were caged as well.

"Oh, shut up!" Donna snapped.

Viera was going to kill everyone.

"No. Not like this!" the Doctor pleaded, shouting. "You have to let them go." He tried again to reach Viera through the bright shards of energy sizzling and snapping around her, earning only burns for his effort. With the machinery and cords all burnt away there were no plugs to pull. Viera was the only one who could stop the process of double genocide.

"I can make it stop," Viera reasoned faintly, blank eyes searching things beyond their sight. "No more pain, no more hate, no more war, just peace and silence. Finally, _finally_ silence." She seemed far calmer with a plan in place. Her desperation was gone, though her breath kept coming faster as more and more people were caught in her net, connected to her head and her heart.

"You can't kill them. There are children out there!" the Doctor snapped. Finally Viera wavered.

But only for the moment. "I could spare the children," she conceded absently.

"And their parents? Are you going to make them all orphans? Leave them to fend for themselves?" he pressed. "And what about the teenagers? They're not adults yet. Where do you draw the line? These are _people_ Viera, with families and friends and _lives_. You can't just take that away!"

Viera's eyes searched, face drawn in frustration. "I could spare the innocents, those who haven't spilled blood…" But she could see the blood on the hands of everyone the energy touched. Even the children. They were raised to kill, to make war and destroy. Viera could feel their fear, but it wasn't enough shake her from her trance or distract her from the blood they'd soaked into the soil of their world. "No. No. They've all killed. They're all guilty. I can feel the blood on their hands." For the first time her white-violet eyes seemed to really see him. "I'm sorry Doctor. I have to make this stop."

"What of your God, Viera?" He was becoming desperate. "You think he'd approve of this?" She went silent and still, even the lighting calmed for a moment while the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "We'll find another way. Negotiate some sort of peace. They've seen where their war will lead. You have to give them a chance."

The Doctor's hope faded with the slow shake of Viera's head. "I can feel the planet mourning. I can hear the ghosts cry for justice. Justice and silence. It all has to stop."

"You can't just kill them all!" Donna spoke up.

"This isn't the way! This is just more pain!" the Doctor protested as energy curled around him and Donna, drawing them back towards the door. It didn't hurt, but there was no way to break free.

"The dead deserve justice. I will bring justice for the dead," Viera murmured as the light pulled the struggling pair of time travelers away.

"And mercy? Weren't you telling me your God was one of mercy?" the Doctor tried as he was dragged past the doorway.

Viera looked up, the lightning stilling again. For a moment he thought that had done it. At least until she spoke. "You don't believe in God." Then she slammed the door shut, releasing the Doctor and Donna on the other side.


	7. 2:3 37th Colony of the Federation

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Whispers of the TARDIS: "War is Coming" by Epic Score**

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* * *

**

PART TWO - NENAVIST

Chapter Three – 37th Colony of the Korporácia Federation

"No. No!" the Doctor ran his sonic screwdriver down the frame of the door. "Come on, please." It didn't budge. "Blasted deadbolts!" He yelled in frustration and kicked the door. Increasingly desperate he moved to a section of video screens built into the wall. A brief period of fiddling with his screwdriver had most of them lit up on news screens, displaying video from around the world of the spreading lightning capturing every living being on earth in a cage of crackling violet. One showed a computer analysis of the rate of infiltration at 80% completion. The last screen had a com system installed next to it for video conferencing with the other room, the one Viera remained in with the general. He'd been silent since Donna snapped at him, held absolutely still by the lightning. Viera had gotten tired of his voice as well.

"Viera? Viera can you hear me?" the Doctor asked, trying the coms. There was a faint sound of static, and he pressed his screwdriver against the side then grimaced. "It's only opened one way. I need to talk to her. If I can just…" He pulled a few wires loose, stripping the ends with his teeth and twisting them back together in a different order.

"Doctor, we're running out of time," Donna pointed out. The computer showed that the lightning had reached over 90% of the world.

They could hear Viera though she couldn't hear them. She was talking to herself.

"So much pain," she whimpered, eyes squeezed shut. "So much hate. So much blood on their hands. They're all guilty. Everyone. Everyone's guilty."

100%

"Please," the Doctor groaned, finally hitting the coms in frustration. They crackled to life. "Viera," he called. She finally held the whole world in her power, but her determination was gone and suddenly she just looked lost again.

"We're all guilty," she stated softly. She looked up towards the camera. Her violet-white eyes were blank but her expression was searching.

"Nobody's perfect," the Doctor agreed carefully.

Viera's face twisted in frustration and she shook her head. The Doctor opened his mouth, trying to find the right words, but he didn't understand what she was trying to get across. A whole world, the entirety of two races on the line and he couldn't figure out what she wanted him to say.

"That's a Bible verse." Donna's voice drew the Doctor's attention. More importantly it drew Viera's. She'd gone still again, completely focused on the two-way video screen. Donna looked a bit nervous but stepped closer to the coms, nudging an unresisting Doctor to the side.

"I've never been one for church really, but I've gone a time or two," Donna offered. "I remember there being verses about how all of us were guilty… but God loving us anyways."

And that was what she'd needed to hear, needed to remember.

"For God so loved the world," Viera murmured, the light in her eyes beginning to spill over in great shining tears. "That he gave his son… While we were still sinners Christ died for us… For God so _loved_-" She broke off with a sob. "What am I doing?"

Relief eased the lines of worry in the Doctor's face. "It's alright. No one's been hurt. Just let them go, Viera. We'll figure this all out together," he coaxed.

She shook her head slowly, still crying though her expression had shifted into calm again. "No. We won't. I can feel myself dying." Viera gave a soft sigh and closed her eyes. "One last chance then."

"One last chance for what?" Donna asked with no reply. The computer beeped, showing changing information in a mess of numbers she didn't understand. "What is she doing?"

"I'm not sure." The Doctor fiddled with the screen then paused, his look of worried puzzlement changing to surprise and something near awe. "She's shifting targets. Inorganic." He glanced at the communications screen to the other room, watching as the violet energy pulled the guns from the general's caged form. "She's going to destroy all the weapons."

They took a step back, watching the other video screens showing views from around the world. The violet light spread, curling around every weapon in sight and reducing it to slag. Knives, spears, guns, even explosive were caged and imploded. The same crackling energy that destroyed them contained the explosions. Nothing was harmed but the weapons. In a matter of minutes the whole world was wiped clean.

In a retreating wave the energy faded, leaving the people of the world, Spor and Bolest alike free and unharmed. Only the light running through the building remained. It flickered and lashed out at the door it had closed on the Doctor and Donna only minutes before and the deadbolt opened with a click. As the time-travelers flung open the door, the light retreated to Viera. The scientists and soldiers and even the general were set free. They were ignored as they fled the room, the general calling for reports on any weapons they might have left.

The violet light crackled weakly around Viera and began to fade. With the energy gone they could see the deep burns twisted over her flesh everywhere the black paint had been. The light in her eyes was the last to go, fading slowly from violet-white to green-flecked hazel. Viera swayed despite being braced on all fours. The Doctor made it to her side in time to catch her as she folded. Donna knelt next to them, hands hovering over Viera a moment before twisting together on her knees. She wanted to take Viera's hand or something to offer comfort, but she couldn't find any place that wasn't burned except her face and the Doctor already had Viera's head in his lap. He stroked gentle fingers against her clammy cheek, carefully avoiding the burns that curled up to her temples.

"I'm sorry," Viera breathed, struggling for air in faint gasps. "'M sorry." Her emotions were as raw as her body was exhausted, and they could hear it in her shaking voice.

"For what?" Donna asked, her own eyes watering. "You did so well."

"I couldn't stop," she whimpered. "I almost…" 9 billion people. She'd almost killed 9 billion people.

"But you _did _stop," the Doctor reminded her. "You saved everyone."

"Spared them," Viera sighed. "Not the same." Silent tears slipped from her eyes. "And not everyone. The people on our ship… Ms. Tarrio… " Her voice broke; she couldn't finish the sentence. "I'm so tired." Her eyes slid closed.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor murmured. "I'm so sorry. I should have taken you with me to start with."

Viera swallowed, her throat dry. "Not your fault," she whispered between weak breaths. "Found me… when it mattered." The pain in her expression began to fade as she went quiet.

"There's got to be something we can do," Donna pleaded, turning teary eyes to the Doctor. He was scanning Viera with his screwdriver but could find any way to save her. Mind and body, she was all burnt up inside.

"We'd need equipment I just don't have," he muttered, sorrow and guilt darkening his eyes. The Doctor rested fingers against Viera's faltering pulse and shook his head. "We're not even in the right century for that, and she wouldn't survive a trip to anywhere that could help her. She's fading too fast."

"Maybe I can help," a voice came from behind them.

The Doctor and Donna looked up to find one of the scientists had returned. She was holding an odd-looking metal instrument shaped rather like a very long-legged spider. Hope dawned across the Doctor's expression.

"Is that a portable stasis inducer?" he asked, reaching for it hurriedly. His grin was relieved and a little bit awed as the scientist nodded. "This technology is _way_ ahead of its time." The Doctor fixed it over Viera's chest then pressed the button in the center. There was a faint beep, then a click as the legs closed around Viera's torso. The Doctor used his screwdriver to affix the correct settings, then felt for Viera's pulse again.

"We _are_ the best scientists in seven galaxies," the woman reminded him.

The Doctor scanned Viera one more time with his sonic screwdriver. "It's worked," he sighed happily. He shared a wide smile with Donna before glancing back at the scientist. "You've saved her."

She looked uncomfortable. "She spared us, it's only fair we do the same. But you should leave. I have a feeling the general might not feel the same."

"That we should," the Doctor agreed.

"Thank God," Donna sighed. He grinned at her, slipping his arms beneath Viera's limp form. It was fortunate that she was petite. He carried her back to the TARDIS without incident, leaving the scientist behind to salvage what she could of the computers.

"Get the door for me, would you?" the Doctor grunted as they reached the blue box.

"I offered to help carry her," Donna chided, pulling out her key. "But nooo, you have to be the big man and carry her yourself."

"Yes, yes. Come on," the Doctor replied, sliding past her to lay Viera on the bench near the TARDIS' controls.

"Where to?" Donna asked as he began flipping switches. She moved to brace the unconscious young woman for the trip.

The Doctor grinned without looking away from the controls. "Best hospital in the universe. In any universe actually. Hang on," he warned, then he pulled the last lever and they were off.

* * *

Viera woke to a white ceiling, pale blue walls, and far-too-bright lights. She grimaced and tried to raise a hand to shield her eyes, only to find that she was too weak to raise her arm more than a couple inches.

"Relax. The weakness will pass, though I imagine you're going to feel quite tired for a while."

Viera turned her head to squint at the shapes by her bedside. It took a moment for recognition to kick in. "Doctor. Donna?"

"That's us," Donna replied with a friendly smile. "How are you feeling?"

Viera frowned. She felt sore and exhausted down to her bones, her skin felt raw and stretched too tight, her mouth was dry, her head felt filled with hazy drugs that barely eased the migraine that threatened, but she was still pretty sure she was doing better than she should have been.

"I was dying," she wondered, confusion closing in. "Wasn't I?"

"You were," the Doctor admitted. "But one of the scientists had a crisis of conscience. Lent us a stasis inducer that kept you alive long enough to bring you here."

"Where's here?"

"Healing chamber of Nemocnica, 37th colony of the Korporácia Federation," the Doctor answered without missing a beat. Viera wondered why she bothered to ask; she didn't understand a word of it.

"Healing chamber? Hospital?" Viera asked. She supposed that made sense. Trying to reason made her head ache.

"The equivalent of, yes."

"You're going to be fine, by the way," Donna spoke up.

"It took some doing," the Doctor added, "but all the paths the power burned through are healing up nicely now."

Viera shifted her gaze to her arms, resting on top of the white sheets. They did look mostly healed, bandage-free and everything, but burn scars wound across her skin where the paint had been.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "There was nothing they could do about the scaring. The pathways were more than physical… It's a bit complicated to explain, but nothing they tried could get rid of the scars. They should fade a bit in time, but they'll never be completely gone."

Viera wondered if it would bother her more later when she could look in a full length mirror, but she felt very pragmatic about it at the moment. "They're just scars," she dismissed. "Proof of what I survived."

"That's the spirit," the Doctor cheered, grinning. Viera gave a sleepy smile back and yawned.

"You must still be exhausted. Why don't you get some more sleep," Donna coaxed.

"Going to be here when I wake up?" Viera asked, eyes already sliding closed.

"I promise," was the last thing she heard the Doctor say before darkness crept back in.

* * *

Viera woke the next time to the sound of arguing. The Doctor and Donna and a proper-sounding voice she didn't recognize. She kept her eyes closed and listened.

"She is a ward of the United Conglomeration," the stranger was protesting.

"She's twenty three years old," the Doctor pointed out. "Perfectly capable of making her own decisions."

"I am taking her back to Kupil Spolu for questioning. We _must_ find out what happened to our agent," the other protested.

"Oi! She's the victim in all this!" Donna spoke up. "'Taking her in for questioning'. You've got no right to be treating her like some kind of criminal. She nearly _died_."

"I didn't mean…" the stranger stammered.

"Tell you what," the Doctor interrupted. He sounded like he was smiling, but Viera would bet most anything that the smile was a bit cold. "You come back with a warrant or some sort of proper paperwork and we'll get out of your way, yeah?" He didn't really mean that, did he? Viera didn't want to go back to Kupil Spolu. She didn't want to talk about what had been done to Ms. Tarrio. Her brave guardian had protected her and died screaming for her efforts.

"Fine," the stranger huffed. "30 minutes. I'll be back when the Healing Center has released her into my custody." The door opened and closed, and for a moment the room was quiet.

"Real gem, that one," Donna grumbled.

"Right then," the Doctor said, grin evident in his voice. "We've only got half an hour. Stop pretending to be asleep, Viera. We have things to discuss."

Green-flecked hazel eyes blinked open to meet the Doctor's gaze.

"Heard all that rot then, did you?" Donna asked. Viera nodded.

"Not to worry," the Doctor said, sitting in the nearby chair to prop his feet up on her blankets. Donna shoved them off to sit on the side of the bed. "We have an… alternative proposition. Donna and I," he motioned wildly, "have a spaceship. Well, I have a spaceship and Donna tags along relentlessly."

"Oi," she protested. "Watch it, space-man."

"Anyways, the TARDIS, that's my ship, can travel anywhere in the universe. Not to mention the fact that she's a time machine. Imagine the possibilities, Viera! Anywhere, anywhen you want to go!"

Viera blinked, trying to wrap her head around all that. "Are you… inviting me along?"

"Yes, it would seem so. Yes," the Doctor replied. "And I know you're not feeling your best, but I'm afraid I'm going to need an answer within the next… oh, 28 minutes."

"Yes," Viera answered. She didn't need to think about it. For one thing she didn't have anywhere else to go. The Doctor and Donna were now officially the only people she knew anywhere. For another, how could she pass up an opportunity to travel with someone like the Doctor?

"Yes?" the Doctor asked, a bit nonplused by the sudden answer.

"Yes," Viera repeated with a shy grin. "Of course, yes."

"Well then, no time like the present," he stated, slapping his palms on his knees then climbed to his feet. "Can you sit up alright?" the Doctor asked, pulling out his screwdriver to check various machines before unhooking Viera. She sat up carefully and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The room swam a bit, but the weakness wasn't the all-encompassing exhaustion it had been, thankfully. "Donna, if you'd get her other side?" The two of them helped her to her feet, then Donna grabbed a bathrobe waiting on a nearby hook.

"I didn't come in with any clothes, did I?" Viera asked, blushing as they helped her with the robe.

"Don't worry about that," Donna stated. "He's got a whole massive wardrobe on the ship. I'm sure there's something that'll fit you for now. We're going to have to take you on a shopping trip as soon as you're up to it," she reasoned gleefully, glancing at the Doctor.

He looked chagrinned. "I suppose it can't be helped. Come on."

"I haven't got any money," Viera pointed out quietly as they helped her down the hall. She had to lean on them quite heavily, but she was a bit smaller than them both and they didn't struggle with her weight. She'd lost quite a bit since being dropped on an unfamiliar world. Viera was beginning to look as frail as she felt sometimes. It wouldn't take the Doctor and Donna long to start working at changing that.

"Neither have I," stated the Doctor. "Don't worry about it."

"He does this thing with his screwdriver," Donna explained. "We end up with enough money for whatever we need no matter where we go."

They paused while the Doctor checked around the corner, then made their way to a storage closet.

"I thought we were going to your ship," Viera pointed out.

"We are," the Doctor replied, using his screwdriver to open the door.

"Your spaceship fits in the closet?" She sounded a bit doubtful, but Viera followed them gamely in through the door. It was a tight fit; most of the small room was taken up by a big wooden box that said Police Public Call Box on the top. "Your spaceship is a phone booth."

The Doctor opened the door with a silver key and stepped inside. Donna held Viera steady until she was close enough to hold onto the door, then let her go first.

It was like a whole other world inside. The lights glowed a gentle gold except for the green cylinder in the center that reached from floor to ceiling. There was a control panel encircling the cylinder, a metal walkway encircling that. All around the edges were thick supports that curved to the ceiling; they looked more like tree branches than columns, like they grew there rather than being built. But Viera was too distracted to even fully comprehend the fact that the ordinary-sized telephone box was enormous on the inside. "What's that sound?" Viera asked, pausing by the door. "There's… It's… singing."

"I thought as much. You can hear the TARDIS. This ship is alive, in a way. It's always singing." The Doctor smiled fondly and ran a hand over the controls before returning his attention back to Viera. "You're going to have to be very careful from now on. The power channels have healed but they'll always be there. If anyone finds out you're a conduct, they might try to use you the way the Bolest did. You'll be able to hear things, feel things that nobody else can. You're probably going to be vulnerable to certain types of physic attacks for the rest of your life, but I imagine you'll gain more control over it as you go."

Viera blinked, trying not to look as overwhelmed by that as she felt. "Good to know…" she said slowly.

"What do you think he meant, when he said Viera had natural talent?" Donna spoke up.

"What?" the Doctor questioned, turning his attention to her.

"When the general was talking about having tried out… previous subjects, he said Viera was the perfect conduct because she had some talent to start with," Donna reminded him.

Viera looked confused. She'd been too out of it at the time to understand anything that was going on around her. The drugs had opened her mind and very being; before she'd been plugged into the planet all that insight had been turned inward, unraveling her sense of self and all her memories like puzzle pieces to be examined by her mind. She hadn't seen or heard or felt anything outside herself until that terrible moment she'd felt _everything_.

"That's right," the Doctor drawled, looking at Viera thoughtfully. "Could mean you're just a bit ahead of most humans psychically. That sort of talent wouldn't show itself in any obvious ways." He moved closer, pulling out his sonic screwdriver to examine Viera. She narrowed her eyes at the instrument but didn't move. "Do you ever have moments where you're almost certain you know what someone's thinking before they do? Any particular degree of insight or observational skills?"

Viera gave a short laugh at that. "Hardly." As a matter of fact, she had a tendency to let her mind drift and missed a great deal of things. Observation was _not_ her strong point.

The Doctor hummed. "What else… Empathy perhaps? Do the moods of those around you seem to affect you more than most? Do you tend to notice other people's moods before anything else? Even just a tendency to sympathize with everyone?"

She couldn't laugh at that one, though she did protest. "That's not exactly unnatural. Plenty of people are like that. Most people, in fact."

The Doctor grinned like he'd solved the puzzle. "Perhaps. Some people, at least. The human race is certainly capable of great empathy. Still, a higher than average ability to empathize might be enough to make you work as a conduct when the others they tried couldn't."

"If you say so," Viera yielded doubtfully. "Something else I was wondering though. How'd you find me, anyways? We were supposed to meet on Pristav."

"Dunno exactly," the Doctor admitted. "The TARDIS just got pulled here. Might have been the magnitude of the coming energy flow."

"Maybe you were supposed to find me," Viera offered.

"Could be." The Doctor wore an unreadable look; she couldn't tell if he was serious or humoring her. It was gone quickly. "Alright! Where to now? The Plains of Rhapsody? Victorian England? The Great Concert Halls of Melodia?"

_Anywhere in the universe except 1998,_ Viera mused. "Surprise me," she replied, smiling as the Doctor and Donna shared a grin. Peas in a pod, those two.

"Alright then. Hold on!"

And another adventure began.


	8. 3:1 The Marketplace

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**The Obetovat: "Floating Away" by Epic Score**

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PART THREE – THE OBETOVAT STONE

Chapter One – The Marketplace

"This is incredible," Viera murmured, staring around the marketplace. The Doctor had brought them to a planet that reminded Viera strongly of the orient. Merchants called to the people walking past, showing off their wares. For all that the planet reminded Viera of Earth, the things sold in the stands were obviously alien, completely foreign and sometimes bizarre. It was crowed and loud, but she felt perfectly comfortable as long as she stuck close to the Doctor. Donna wandered a bit more, obviously confident on her own.

They wandered through the streets, letting the vendors pull them this way and that to look at different things. The Doctor stopped to examine a spiny-looking fruit and Donna wandered a bit further down the street on her own. By the time they moved on, she was out of sight.

"We lost Donna," Viera pointed out.

"She'll find us soon enough. Or visa versa. Can't be too hard to find a tall red-head in this crowd," the Doctor reassured. "Hey, take a look at this!" He got distracted by a stall of complicated puzzle boxes. After he'd solved the fifth one within seconds of picking it up the merchant waved them on irritably.

"Look over here! Fantastical jewelry made by the silver-smiths of Baníci. A gold pendant created by the legendary Vodivost," a merchant lady called. "Some even say it's magic!" That was enough to spark the Doctor's interest.

"Magic, you say?" he asked.

Slender hands tangled in a gilded chain to display the pendant it held. "This has been passed down from generation to generation. Been in my family for centuries," the exotic vendor enticed. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, but the lady pulled the necklace away, giving it a distrustful look.

"What is it?" Viera asked, quite unable to look away from the pendant. It was gorgeous. Gold coiled in delicate knots around a quarter-sized, deep green stone flecked with gold and black. A thin ring holding an inscription circled the knots. Beyond that five smaller green stones were set into triangular shards around the outside edge. The whole pendant was barely half the size of her palm.

"This is the Obetovat stone," the merchant explained in a conspiratory murmur. The Doctor's curiosity seemed to die abruptly at that. He looked at the necklace with an odd mix of longing and disgust. Viera wished she knew what he was thinking. "Legend says it's capable of bringing the dead back to life."

"At a cost," the Doctor pointed out cynically. "Legend also says that the person who wore the pendant died. Always. Come on, Viera," the Doctor beckoned. "They've got sladky fruit. I've never tried one before. You can't get them anywhere but here. They say they taste a bit like bananas."

Viera hesitated as the Doctor wandered over to another stall, still talking. She glanced at the pendent, still feeling the draw of potential.

"Do you know how it works?" It didn't occur to her to ask if she believed the legends held any truth; Viera could _feel_ the power there.

"Viera, was it?" the merchant lady asked, eyeing her. A moment later she dropped the saleswoman persona. She leaned forward and lowered her voice as though she were sharing gossip. "Truthfully, for you it's nothing more than pretty trinket with an interesting past. It won't work for humans," she cautioned. "So if you're planning on using it…"

"Oh, no." Viera shook her head. "There's no one I'd try to bring back. I just…. There's just something about it, isn't there."

"It was made by the Vodivost. They were the only ones who could use it and they're all gone now. Extinct. They were a race made of pure energy. The stone channeled that somehow. See these pieces here? There's five shards that come loose. They would put one of these into a person, someone who was dying or just someone they wanted to protect. They had to do that before they died; it apparently doesn't do any good after. Then if something happened to someone with a shard, the owner of the pendant could use the stone to channel their own energy and life-force into the dead, bring them back to life."

"Killing them in the process."

"Drained them apparently," the merchant agreed. "That's how it got its name. Obetovat means sacrifice."

The Doctor's distraction with the fruit was only going to last so long; he'd start looking around for her soon. She didn't want him to know she was buying something dangerous. "How much?" Viera asked.

"89 minca."

Viera handed over the oddly-shaped coins without a fuss, having neither the time nor inclination to haggle. The merchant slipped the necklace into a black velvet bag and held it out to Viera.

"Thanks."

"No, thank _you_," the merchant replied as Viera caught up to the Doctor. She pocketed the money as Viera tucked away the velvet bag. "We've waited 367 years for you to come for that," the merchant lady murmured, far too quietly for anyone to overhear. "Mother isn't going to believe I finally met you." The she took a breath and went back to calling out to potential customers, hawking her wares.

Viera trotted up to the Doctor, peering around his shoulder without quite touching him, as he bit into an oddly-shaped blue fruit. "So what do you think? Just like a banana?"

The Doctor hummed, considering the question quite seriously as he chewed, shifting the food from one side of his mouth to the other. An amused lopsided smile stretched across Viera's face as she watched. "Not… exactly," he answered. "But it's quite good, really. Want a bite?"

Viera considered the offered fruit with a somewhat doubtful expression. It wasn't like it'd hurt her though, and she was a bit curious. It was probably the least-risky thing she'd do while with the Doctor actually. Even their earlier shopping trip for clothes had turned into a national incident. "Oh why not?" she agreed, snatching the fruit from his hand and taking a bite. "Oh, mmm…" Viera murmured a moment later, closing her eyes. "That _is_ good." She took another bite. The fruit was soft, almost creamy in texture. The flavor was vaguely banana-like, but far richer, more intense.

"Oi, that's mine!" the Doctor protested, grabbing for the fruit as she skipped ahead a pace. He sounded scolding but he was grinning nonetheless. "Get your own."

"I like this one. _You_ get your own," Viera argued, smirking. She felt happy and comfortable with her new friend, and that came out as playful teasing and easy grins. The Doctor gave a longsuffering sigh but turned obediently and bought another one from the fruit merchant.

She tucked her free hand into the curve of his arm as they continued down the road. He pointed out various odds and ends that he found fascinating. Viera barely understood half of it but found his enthusiasm infectious. He certainly kept her smiling.

"Is that a camera?" Viera asked curiously as they passed another stand. The little machine looked just familiar enough to name but otherwise completely foreign, even compared to the one she'd gotten in the 52nd century.

"It is indeed!" the Doctor agreed, coming to a halt to turn towards her fully. "Would you like one?"

Viera nearly protested that he didn't need to do that since it was hardly a necessity, but it wasn't like he was on a budget and the Doctor did seem to enjoy buying things for her and Donna if it made them happy. Besides, she missed the one she'd lost on Midnight. "Yes," she stated honestly, giving a slightly sheepish grin.

Moments later they were walking again, Viera with her new camera in hand.

"Brilliant little machine, really," the Doctor was still talking. "This series has a built-in perception filter. Ingenious. It's for visiting worlds with primitive technology when you don't want to stand out, but it's _perfect_ for time travel. No matter when we go the camera people will see will look like something that fits into that time period."

Concern wrinkled Viera's nose, though she had to admit that sounded pretty handy. "Does that mean I'm going to have to learn how to use all those different types of cameras?"

"'Course not. That'd be a hassle, wouldn't it? No, it'll look like different things to people, but the actual camera won't change. You'll only have to learn to work it once."

"Thank goodness," Viera sighed a bit dramatically. That prompted a grin from the Doctor, which she mirrored back.

Then the world shifted. Just for a moment Viera could another life: herself on the Midnight shuttle without the Doctor, trying and failing to save Sky, getting pulled to Nenavist, the Doctor never coming, the whole world dying with her in a surge of violet power. Viera gasped back a sob and swayed, then just as suddenly found herself standing in the middle of the marketplace, the Doctor's hands holding her up.

"Something wrong," she murmured needlessly, looking up at him with damp eyes though no tears fell. "I saw… I dunno, things happening differently. Without you."

"Can you walk?" the Doctor asked grimly. Viera nodded. "We need to find Donna and figure out what's going on."

He watched her sometimes from the corner of his eye as they picked up the pace, but Viera had no trouble keeping up. The longer they walked, the less real the vision seemed, and the better Viera felt. They peered down side streets and vendor's tents as they went, asking merchants if they'd seen a tall red-headed woman.

"She went to fortune teller," one of them finally supplied when bribed with a small coin. "You want to buy shukina?"

"Maybe later," the Doctor replied, jogging over to a red tent with beautiful paper lanterns. He motioned to Viera to stay back and stepped inside. Viera peeked around him carefully, relieved to see Donna standing there, unharmed.

"Everythin' alright?" the Doctor asked, concerned. Viera followed Donna's stunned gaze to the enormous beetle lying dead on the ground and shuddered. She was _not_ fond of bugs.

Donna looked up and finally seemed to notice the Doctor. She gave a little gasp and threw her arms around his neck. "Oh God…"

"What's the matter? Did something happen?" he asked, hugging her back.

"Are you alright?" Viera asked. The next thing she knew, Donna had pulled her into a hug as well. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Donna stated, grinning at them both a bit teary-eyed. "But I am _so _glad to see you."

"We're glad to see you too," the Doctor answered, smiling at her. His eyes tracked to the beetle and his expression became a bit more serious. "Suppose this has something to do with that?"

Donna sighed, sinking down onto the fortune teller's box with a vaguely puzzled expression. "It's all sort of fuzzy."

Viera stayed by the tent door, watching the beetle distrustfully as the Doctor placed it on a seat and prodded it with an incense stick.

"I can't remember," Donna said with a helpless shrug and a slight shake of the head. "It's slipping away. You know, like when you try and think of a dream and it just sort of… goes."

"That's a frustrating feeling," Viera murmured.

"It just got lucky, this thing," the Doctor observed, looking at the beetle. "It's one of the Trickster's Brigade. Changes a life in tiny little ways. Most times, the universe just compensates around it, but with you… great big parallel world!" He sounded almost proud of that.

Donna smiled, but it faded in confusion. "Hold on, you said parallel worlds are sealed off."

_Trickster's Brigade? Parallel worlds? I'm still getting used to the fact that I now live in a time-travelling spaceship,_ Viera mused.

"They are," the Doctor answered. "But you had one created around you. Funny thing is, it seems to be happening a lot. To you," he mused, looking at Donna like she was a puzzle that needed solving.

"How do you mean?" Donna asked.

"Well, the Library and then this…"

"Just… goes with the job, I suppose," she dismissed.

_Library?_ Viera wondered but didn't ask. _Where's he going with this?_ Her gaze slid to Donna as the Doctor continued.

"Sometimes I think there's way too much coincidence around you, Donna. I met you once. I met your grandfather. Then I met you again. In the whole wide universe, I met you for a second time. It's like something's binding us together."

"Wasn't sure you believed in fate, Doctor," Viera murmured.

"Not sure I do," he replied thoughtfully.

"Don't be so daft," Donna objected with a scoff. "I'm nothing special."

The Doctor gave her a fond smile, completely and utterly sincere. "Yes, you are. You're brilliant."

Donna smiled shyly, but it was gone in an instant, her gaze turned distant. "She said that," she murmured.

"She?" Viera asked.

Donna struggled with the memory, but couldn't quite grasp it. "That woman… I can't remember."

"Well, she never existed now," the Doctor stated.

Donna couldn't seem to let it go that easily. "No, but she said… the stars… She said the stars are going out." Viera felt goosebumps prickle along her skin at those words and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Yeah, but that world's gone."

"No, but she said it was all worlds," Donna insisted, having an easier time following the memories with something to hold onto. "Every world. She said the darkness is coming, even here."

"Who was she?" the Doctor pressed.

"I don't know."

"What did she look like?" he questioned again, more carefully though just as quiet. Viera could hear faint suspicions there, but had no idea what he might be thinking. They had so much past, those two. Especially the Doctor. She wished she knew a bit more of it.

Donna took a moment to remember. "She was… blond."

"What was her name?" The Doctor insisted.

"I don't know!"

He was obviously restraining himself carefully. "Donna, what was her name?" Viera wondered what that meant. What, or who, could affect him so strongly? She couldn't even tell if it was hope or fear driving him.

"But she told me… to warn you. She said… two words," Donna pieced together carefully.

"What two words? What were they? What did she say?" The Doctor's soft voice shook, _actually_ shook. It took Donna a long moment to find the answer, searching through memories that were hers but not quite. The Doctor's gaze never wavered.

"Bad Wolf."

The Doctor's eyes widened, comprehension and shock holding him frozen for a long moment. He was trembling.

"Well, what does it mean?"

He didn't answer. The Doctor jumped to his feet and rushed towards the exit. Viera moved to the side as he rushed passed her and burst out of the tent like there were hounds on his heels. She shared a brief bewildered look with Donna before they both raced after him through the crowded streets of the market.

"I didn't understand any of that," Viera told Donna as they followed him.

"Not a clue!" Donna shouted back.

They'd nearly caught up to the Doctor when he reached the TARDIS. He paused, staring around the marketplace wide-eyed. Viera followed his gaze to see the words 'bad wolf' nearly everywhere. Banners, flags, signs, posters; all of them held the same two words. She hadn't noticed any of it before. She wasn't terribly observant, but Viera was fairly certain the Doctor would have seen it, especially considering that the words were obviously important. Then she noticed that the even the words 'Police Public Call Box' on the TARDIS had been changed.

"How is that possible?" she panted. Donna shook her head in shared confusion, darting into the TARDIS after the Doctor. Viera took one last look before she followed them in and shut the door behind her. Jarring red light had swallowed up the calming green and gold. She felt, more than heard, the shudder in the TARDIS' song.

"What is going on?" Viera gasped softly, leaning heavily against the railing.

"Doctor, what is it? What's Bad Wolf?" Donna asked, looking as lost and worried as Viera knew she probably did. It took a lot to shake up the Doctor, and he was most definitely _shaken_.

He was breathing heavily, distracted and tangled in his own thoughts, but the Doctor answered.

"It's the end of the universe."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, so I'm not real good at patience. I thought about waiting until I had a few more reviews to post the new chapter (I'm not sure it looks very good at first glance to have an eight chapter fanfic with only 3-4 reviews) or at least spacing them out over a week or so, but once they're written I want them up. So here you are, another new chapter. The next one will probably take longer to post. While it is an episode rewrite (and therefore I already have all the raw materials), I don't have anything written for that one yet. I haven't even decided where Viera fits in. Honestly I've never stuck so diligently to a fanfic as I have this one. Eight chapters within the first week of posting is pretty extraordinary for me. (Admittedly I had bits and pieces written before posting that first chapter, which helped.)

Has anyone checked out the songs I mentioned? Yes, my supplemental soundtrack is mostly Epic Score so far, but I can't help it. They're just awesome. You can find the songs on iTunes whether you want them or just want to hear a sample.

Let me know what you think about the music. Let me know if there are things I need to work on and improve. Shout out to MayFairy whose reviews always make me happy! THANK YOU!


	9. 4:1 The Lost Planets

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**27 Planets: "Bernini's Angels" by Kerry Muzzey**

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PART FOUR – JOURNEY'S END

Chapter One – Tracking the Earth

The Doctor was out the door almost before the TARDIS had finished rematerializing, Donna and Viera on his heels. The world looked absolutely normal, peaceful even. Viera felt the pace of her heart start to even out.

"It's fine," the Doctor observed. "Everything's fine." A milk cart wandered down the road a short ways away. It looked wonderfully pastoral. Perfectly ordinary. He turned around, puzzled. "Nothing's wrong. It's all fine," he muttered, still looking for something threatening. Finally he called to the milkman. "Excuse me! What day is it?"

"Saturday," the man replied.

"Saturday! Good!" the Doctor still looked uneasy. "Good. I like Saturdays."

"So… I just met Rose Tyler?" Donna asked.

"Yeah," he answered distractedly.

"I'm sorry," Viera interjected. "But who's Rose?"

Donna was the one who answered. "She traveled with the Doctor for a while. She was… They were… close. But she got trapped in a parallel world. Didn't she?" Donna asked, turning back to the Doctor.

"Exactly. If she can cross from her parallel world to your parallel world, then that means the walls of the universe are breaking down, which puts everything in danger," he rambled. "Everything. But how?" He rushed back to the TARDIS, the girls following behind again. The Doctor moved around the console, pressing buttons and pulling levers, a look of concentration on his face.

Donna approached him carefully. "The thing is Doctor… no matter what's happening, and I, I'm sure it's bad. I get that. But… Rose is coming back. Isn't that good?"

His expression didn't change as he looked up, just still for a moment. Then something sparked in his eyes and a wide smile spread across his face.

"Yeah," he answered quietly, hope and happiness shining through. They couldn't help but smile back.

Then the TARDIS jolted with enough force to send them tumbling to the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Donna yelled.

"It came from outside!" the Doctor answered, running for the door. Viera scrambled to her feet and followed. He threw open the door and the world was gone. There was nothing but space outside, stars and bits of rock.

"That's… that's not good, is it?" Viera muttered, swallowing hard. Had someone or something just picked them up and moved them? Just like that?

"We're in space," Donna gasped. "How did that happen? What did you do?"

The Doctor ran back to the console rather than answer. He peered at the monitor, looking more and more confused.

"We haven't moved. We're fixed."

"What?" Viera questioned spinning around to look back outside. "But…"

"It can't have…" the Doctor muttered, sounding utterly stunned. "No." He joined them back at the door. "The TARDIS is still in the same place, but the Earth is gone."

"What?" Viera gasped.

"The entire planet… it's gone."

Donna processed that faster than Viera did. "But… if the Earth's been moved… they've lost the sun." Her voice rose in urgent fear. "What about my Mum? And Grandad? They're dead? Aren't they? Are they dead?"

He sounded nearly as disconcerted as they were. That was not comforting. "I don't know, Donna. I just don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know."

Viera shut the door and leaned against it, closing her eyes. Her family was there too, everyone she'd ever known. While she'd never see them again either way, Viera _needed_ the knowledge that they were out there somewhere living out their lives. If the Earth was gone… if the people were dead…

Heavens, even her family aside, the whole of the human race had just vanished.

"How is that possible?" she breathed, looking to the Doctor. "How does the whole planet, everyone on it just _vanish_?"

The Doctor shook his head helplessly, frustrated. "There's no readings, nothing. Not a trace. Not even a whisper. Oh that is… fearsome technology." He scrubbed a hand through his hair.

"But _why_? Why would someone take the Earth? That's got to take a lot of power, right? There are easier ways to wipe out the human race. There are easier planets to get at, uninhabited ones if that's all they needed," Viera reasoned aloud, trying to prompt some sort of idea, some chance to solve the mystery and _fix_ things. Because there had to be a way to fix things. Her family, her friends, her whole race couldn't just be dead. "Right? So why Earth?"

He shook his head again, for once completely without answers. "I don't know."

"So what do we do?" Donna demanded, her voice shaking.

The Doctor stared blankly ahead, thinking. "We've got to get help."

"Help from who?" Viera asked, oddly surprised. Who would someone like the Doctor go to for help? She supposed that over the course of his travels he'd met tons of people and many of them likely owed him favors, but who could figure this out when he couldn't?

"Donna, Viera… I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation," he stated, reaching for a lever. "Hold tight." The TARDIS shuttered into motion once more. It was hardly the exhilarating ride it usually was. They were all grim and worried, Donna more so than anyone. She was focused on her family. The Doctor was focused on the problem. Viera… Viera coped with denial and distraction; she wouldn't believe the Earth was really _gone_ until they saw proof. Couldn't believe it.

"So, go on then," Donna spoke up as the Doctor reach around the controls to adjust their course. "What is the Shadow Proclamation, anyway?"

"Posh name for police," the Doctor replied. "Outer space police. Here we go!" he exclaimed as he pushed in another lever. The TARDIS picked up speed suddenly, throwing Viera back onto the bench and nearly tossing the Doctor over the console. Donna managed to hang on to the edge of the control panel, bending her knees with the violent sway of the ship.

The TARDIS landed minutes later and Viera pried herself away from the seat she'd been clinging too. The Doctor took a deep breath before reaching for the door.

"These _are_ the good guys, yeah?" Viera clarified.

"Course they are!" the Doctor exclaimed. He glanced back at them and tilted his head. "They mean to be, anyways." Then he slipped out the door.

The girls followed to find themselves held at gunpoint by half a dozen alien soldiers dressed in black. The three of them raised their hands slowly.

"You sure about that?" Viera muttered to the Doctor, eying the leader of the soldiers. He looked rather like a relation of the rhinoceros. She nearly asked aloud if he was, but the guns persuaded her to keep quiet.

"Sco po tro no flow jo ko fo to to," the leader stated in a low monotone.

_ Isn't the TARDIS supposed to translate other languages?_ Viera wondered as the Doctor answered in the same odd cadence. She thought she probably ought to feel more worried than she did with all those guns pointed at her. Perhaps she was getting used to it?

"No bo ho so ko ro toe so," the Time Lord said insistently. Donna and Viera exchanged a bemused look, eyebrows raised. "Bo ko do zo go bo fo po jo!" The soldiers finally lowered their guns and the time travelers lower their hands. "Ma ho," the Doctor finished, perhaps saying 'thank you'.

The leader of the platoon turned abruptly and started walking. "Come on," the Doctor beckoned. The rest of the soldiers surrounded them as they traveled down pale blue hallways, a rather threatening escort though the Doctor didn't seem concerned.

"What are they?" Donna hissed, watching the soldiers distrustfully. They'd hardly made a welcoming first impression.

"Judoon," the Doctor drew out the word with a faint flicker of amusement. "Police-for-hire, so to speak."

"Where are they taking us?" Viera queried, tucking away less important questions for later, like why they hadn't understood the language and whether they were actually part rhino.

"To the Shadow Architect; the head of the Shadow Proclamation."

"Do you really think they can help?" Donna asked worriedly.

The Doctor considered the question seriously. "I think they're our best bet right now," he answered honestly. Donna still looked shaken, so he curled his hand around hers and gave a reassuring squeeze. Viera took her other hand, relying on her innate optimism.

"We'll figure this out," Viera stated. "We always do." _We just have to_.

Donna's tension eased, just a little. "Yeah," she agreed quietly, able to return the Doctor's encouraging smile with a small one of her own.

They were led into a modern-looking conference room. More Judoon stood on guard around the edges; some of their escort joined them. The others left. The Doctor stepped forward and stuck his hands in his pockets, greeting the woman who waited there.

"You must be the Architect," he stated. "I'm the Doctor."

"He claims to be a Time Lord," the lead Judoon stated. It sounded like English to Viera that time. She and Donna were mostly ignored.

"Time Lords are the stuff of legend," the woman stated skeptically. Her manner was a bit imperious, but considering her position perhaps that was inevitable. She wore a dark dress that sharply contrasted with her pale skin and hair. She looked almost… albino with her crimson eyes, almost human. Viera wondered how many species shared the same basic shape. "They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species. You cannot possibly exist."

Up until that moment, Viera had never taken the time to consider the Doctor's race. Were they so cut off from the rest of the universe that so few knew them? She'd never even thought to ask. But it was hardly the time for it then.

"Yeah…" the Doctor drawled, dismissing that topic altogether. "More to the point, I've got a missing planet."

"Then you're not as wise as the stories would say," replied the Shadow Architect, nodding to herself. Viera frowned indignantly but the Architect continued. "The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor. Twenty-four worlds have been taken from the sky."

"How many?" he questioned incredulously. "Which one? Show me!" the Doctor ordered, taking command. He rushed to a computer, stepping over a bench on the way and put on a pair of glasses. The Architect obediently pulled up the list.

"The locations range far and wide. They all disappeared at the exact same moment, leaving no trace," she stated.

The Doctor watched the screen with a furrowed brow. "Callufrax Minor, Jahoo, Shallacatop, Woman Wept, Clom… Clom's gone?" he repeated in surprise. "Who'd want Clom?"

"All different sizes. Some populated, some not, but all unconnected."

Donna spoke up. "What about Pyrovilia?" she called.

"Who _is_ the female?" the Shadow Architect demanded condescendingly.

_Just invisible, I suppose_, Viera mused silently, annoyance creeping into her expression.

Donna wasn't putting up with that. "Donna. I'm a Human Being. Maybe not the stuff of legend, but every bit as important as Time Lords, thank you," she stated confidently. The Doctor smiled, proud of her spunk. "Way back when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing."

The leader of the Judoon dismissed her. "Pyrovillia is cold case. Not relevant."

"How do you mean, 'cold case'?" Donna demanded.

The Shadow Architect's tone was longsuffering. "The planet Pyrovilia cannot be part of this, it disappeared over two-thousand years ago."

"Yes, yes. Hang on," Donna interrupted her, ideas connecting together in her mind. "But there's the Adipose breeding planet too. Miss Foster said that was lost. But... that must've been a long time ago."

Suddenly the Doctor jerked, realization brightening his eyes. "That's it! Donna, brilliant!" he praised. "The planets have been taken out of time as well as space." He adjusted the computer. "Let's put this into 3D." A holographic model of the missing planets burst into life in the center of the room. "Now, if we add Pyrovilia… and Adipose 3…" He pressed a few buttons and the two planets were added to the configuration. He studied it, looking for something. "There's something missing. Where else, where else, where else, lost, lost, lost, lost…" he muttered. Then it hit him. "OH! The Lost Moon of Poosh!" He added the last moon and walked around the hologram to examine it.

All on their own the planets moved, realigning with each other.

"What did you do?" the Architect demanded.

"Nothing," the Doctor replied. "The planets rearranged themselves into the optimum pattern. Oh, look at that," he mused appreciatively. "Twenty-seven planets in perfect balance. Come on, that is gorgeous!"

"Focus, Doctor," Viera prodded, smiling faintly at his enthusiasm.

Donna was a bit more urgent. "Oi! Don't get all spaceman, what does it _mean_?"

The Doctor wandered over, stopping between the two of them. "All those worlds fit together like pieces of an engine. It's like a power house," he explained. "But what for?"

"What are the chances the inhabited planets are still… inhabited?" Viera had to ask. As worrisome as a 27-planet weapon was, as long as the people of Earth were _alive_ they could conceivably still save the day.

The Doctor glanced at her, his expression giving nothing away. "It's possible. There are certainly ways to sustain life on planets without their suns, especially with the sort of power needed to move them all."

_So it's really just a matter of whether or not whoever moved the planets cared about the lives on them, or whether they needed them for anything,_ Viera considered.

"Who could design such a thing?" the Architect questioned.

The Doctor went back to staring at the planets, lost in thought. "Someone tried the move the Earth once before. A long time ago…" He trailed off and Viera felt a shiver of foreboding. "Can't be…"

"Who?" she asked quietly. He just shook his head. The Doctor circled the hologram again, frustration written across his face. He seemed stuck again.

The Shadow Architect wasn't much help. Everyone seemed at a complete loss. Viera sighed and wandered into the middle of the hologram, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the planets and looking up. She barely noticed Donna retreat to the stairs. The Doctor and the Architect returned to the computer. Viera just sat there, leaning back on her hands and watching the planets slowly move.

_Great lot of help I am,_ she chided silently. _I wish I could feel them_. Viera wondered if her newfound 'empathy' or 'sensitivity' or whatever it was could help her figure out what the planets were for. Not that it mattered since they couldn't find them. On second thought, perhaps it was best she couldn't feel them after all; a 27-planet engine had to be a pretty overwhelming thing. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of Nenavist.

_There has to be some way to find them._ Viera shook her head and muttered. "_Where_ do you hide twenty-seven planets?" She frowned at the hologram then twisted her head to look at the Time Lord. "Doctor, where would _you_ hide twenty-seven planets?" she called.

He looked up from the computer, frowning in thought. "Not where," he murmured after a moment. "_When_. A time pocket, just out of sync with the rest of us." The Doctor sighed and shook his head. "Which unfortunately there's no way to track." He walked over to Donna and leaned on the bannister. "Donna, come on, think," he prodded. "Earth. There must've been some sort of warning. Was there anything happening back in your day, like... electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the sky?"

"Well how should I know?" she demanded. Viera thought she had a point. They'd been with the Doctor, not on Earth. But then she didn't actually know how long Donna had been gone from Earth. Time machines made things confusing. Donna sighed and reconsidered the question. "Um, no. I don't think so, no."

"Oh, okay. Never mind." The Doctor sighed and turned away.

"Although…" Donna's voice stopped him. "There were the bees disappearing."

"The bees disappearing," he echoes a bit sarcastically. "The _bees_ disappearing." Realization spread across his expression. "The bees disappearing!" he exclaimed, apparently having an epiphany. He raced back to the computer. Viera scrambled to her feet and joined him.

"Why is that important?" she asked.

"How is that significant?" the Shadow Architect questioned at nearly the same time.

Donna joined them, answering the Architect's question. "On Earth, we have these insects. Some people said it was pollution or mobile phone signals."

"Or…" the Doctor drawled as he typed frantically on the keyboard, "they were going back home."

"Back… home?" Viera asked, not quite sure she'd heard right.

"Back home where?" Donna demanded.

"Planet Melissa Majoria," the Doctor answered, never tearing his gaze from the computer screen.

"Are you saying bees are aliens?" Donna questioned incredulously.

"Don't be so daft!" the Doctor exclaimed, giving her a condescending look as he wound her up. "Not all of them. But, if the migrant bees felt something, some sort of danger, and escaped..." he babbled quickly. "Tandocca!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at the Architect without looking at her.

"The Tandocca Scale," the Shadow Architect echoed in realization.

The Doctor explained quickly, barely taking time to breathe. "The Tandocca Scale is a series of wavelengths used as carrier signals by migrant bees. Infinitely small, no wonder we didn't see it. It's like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara. But look!" he exclaimed triumphantly, pointing at the screen. There was a trail of blue light across the screen. "There it is! The Tandocca trail. The transmat that moved that planets was using the same wavelength! We can follow the path!"

Donna turned and ran for the TARDIS. "And find the Earth!" she finished the sentence. Viera and the Doctor took off after her. "Well stop talking and do it!" Donna called back.

"I am!" the Doctor yelled, right behind her. The three of them scrambled into the TARDIS, nearly getting in each other's way. The Doctor went straight to the console, fiddling with the monitor.

"We're a bit late," he stated. "The signal's scattered, but it's a start!

The Doctor darted to the door and poked his head out to speak to the Shadow Architect and the small squad of Judoon waiting outside. Viera followed, leaning against the railing of the walkway to listen just out of sight of the aliens.

"I've got a blip!" the Doctor informed them eagerly. Viera couldn't help the small smile that grew at his familiar energy. "It's just a blip, but it's definitely a blip."

The Shadow Architect didn't sound nearly so excited. Actually, she sounded rather stern. "Then according to the strictures of the Shadow Proclamation, I will have to seize your transport and your technology," she stated firmly.

"What? Why?" Viera yelped in the background. She felt rather offended. They hadn't done anything wrong. Matter of fact, all the Doctor & Donna had done was solve a mystery they couldn't.

"What for?" the Doctor asked, sounding just as confused.

"The planets were stolen with hostile intent. We are declaring war, Doctor!" the Shadow Architect exclaimed. "Right across the universe! And you will lead us into battle!"

_Have they never actually met the Doctor?_ Viera wondered, startled. _He'd never agree to that._

"Right," the Doctor replied slowly. "Yes. Course I will. Just go and… get you a key." He edged back inside and closed the door.

"Liar," Viera teased as he rushed back to the console. He threw her a manic grin as he passed and tossed his coat over one of the support columns. Viera caught up as he pulled on one of the levers, just in time to grab hold of the control panel as the TARDIS took off.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Good grief I had a hard time starting this one. Not entirely sure why; perhaps because it seemed like such a big project or maybe because there wasn't much I felt the need to change in the beginning. Sorry if that gets a bit boring. Anyways, the next chapter should be a bit quicker; I already have most of that one done. At this point it looks like this particular part (covering both The Stolen Earth and Journey's End) will be about five chapters (no promises about the length of those though).

If things ever get out of order (facts, the progression of relationships, etc) please let me know. I write some of these completely out of sequence (for instance I had Part 8 done well before I got started on this chapter) and so sometimes I slip up.

Anyone taken a look at the music yet?


	10. 4:2 Rose

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Gathered Together: "Final Front" by Epic Score**

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PART FOUR – JOURNEY'S END

Chapter Two – Rose

A short time later the TARDIS went still, dead in the air.

"It's stopped," the Doctor observed.

"Are we there?" Viera asked, moving around the console to get a look at one of the screens. There was no Earth in sight, no other planets either. A beautiful cloud of light and color hung alone in the dark breadth of space.

"Is that good or bad? Where are we?" questioned Donna.

"The Medusa Cascade," he replied simply, looking lost in thought. "I came here when I was just a kid. Ninety years old." _Just a kid at ninety? How old is he?_ Viera wondered, tucking away the questions for another time. "It was the center of a rift in time and space."

"Like Cardiff?" Viera spoke up.

"Never mind Cardiff," Donna scolded, worried. "Where are the twenty-seven planets?"

The Doctor was quiet, watching the screen instead of them. "Nowhere. The Tandocca Trail stops dead." He leaned his head back looking dazed. Tired. It worried Viera. "End of the line."

Donna and Viera exchanged a nervous glance.

"Alright. So what's plan B?" Viera asked.

"What do we do?" Donna echoed when the Doctor didn't answer. "Doctor? What do we do?" Still he said nothing. Viera didn't think she'd ever seen him look so… defeated. She couldn't quite wrap her head around the idea that he might be giving up.

"Don't do this to me." Donna was pleading with him. At first she sounded desperate, then anger began to creep in. "No, don't. Don't do this to me. Not now. Tell me what we're going to do!"

"Donna," Viera murmured, laying a hand on her arm. "It's alright. Just give him a minute. He'll think of something. _We'll_ think of something." She glanced sidelong at the Doctor, discouraged to find him still staring at the monitor. She could feel Donna shaking; the red-head had one hand over her mouth as she tried to keep from crying. Viera swallowed and prayed silently. _Please don't let it end here. There's got to be something we can do. There has to be. God, please…_

She wasn't clever like the Doctor, but sometimes it helped him just to talk things out, or even just to hear other people talking things out. The oddest things could spark ideas in him. So Viera started talking, trying not to notice how her voice shook at first.

"Alright," Viera muttered, taking a deep breath. "Alright. If there's a rift here, does that mean the Earth might have somehow been pulled through it? Or that it's just hiding the trail? Does it matter?" she asked, getting no reply from either of them, though she had their attention. "There has to be a way to find the Earth. It can't end here. It _doesn't _end here."

"Time in in flux. Things can change. The future can be rewritten," the Doctor stated wearily.

That hadn't been what she had meant, the statement had been a desperate front more than naive certainty, but the Doctor's words gave her an idea. "It _can_ be rewritten," Viera echoed, trying to drag the vague idea scratching at the bad of her mind out into the open. "I know we can't cross our own timeline and just stop this from happening, even if we knew what happened, but what we really need right now is a way to track down the Earth."

Donna's expression brightened as she followed the same line of thought. "We plant some sort of tracer, back in time. Would that work?" she asked, getting excited as she turned to the Doctor. "We go back, leave some sort of device, then when we get back to this time we can follow it!"

The Doctor stared at them with shock for a long moment. Then distraction sank in, and he looked distant and full of thoughts, which was so much better than defeat that Viera & Donna nearly threw their arms around each other and jumped for joy. They settled on sharing a hopeful look and grasping at each other's hands.

"It'd have to be something powerful to handle the rift's disturbance…" he muttered to himself, beginning to pace. "We'd have to amplify the signal, find a transmitter capable of handling that sort of power… _And _we'd have to find a way to trigger it after this point in time so we don't create a paradox… I'm not sure it's possible, but it's worth a shot."

Then the phone rang. All three of them turned and stared. Then the Doctor leapt for it.

"The phone!"

"Doctor, the phone!" Donna exclaimed nearly at the same time.

He answered it, Donna pressed to its other side trying to hear. "Martha? Is that you?" There was no answer, only the ringing. Viera watched the Doctor's expression with growing optimism. "It's a signal…" The Doctor pulled out a stethoscope and put the ends in his ears.

"Can we follow it?" Donna demanded.

"Oh, just watch me," he stated, firm and sure and full of purpose once more. He put the phone down next to the monitor and pressed the stethoscope to its surface. Viera held her breath. "Got it!" the Doctor exclaimed. The phone rang loud and clear one last time. "Locking on!" He pulled a lever and the TARDIS jerked to life with a shudder that sent them all tumbling to the ground.

Sparks sprayed from the console and Viera ducked. A moment later it burst into flames.

"Is it supposed to do that?" she called.

"We're travelling through time!" the Doctor yelled. "One second into the future! The phone call's pulling us through!"

"Don't know how much more of this we can take!" Viera yelped, flinching away from the heat of the flames.

"Almost there!" he promised. "Three! Two! One!" They all hung on to whatever they could grab and yelled in a release of adrenaline as the ship shook violently.

Finally the flames went out and the shuddering TARDIS calmed. They gathered around the monitor.

"Twenty-seven planets," Donna breathed, relief and happiness spreading across her face as she studied the screen. "And there's the Earth. But why couldn't we see it?"

"The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place, tiny little pocket of time. But we found them!" the Doctor answered, just as pleased.

There was a whirring noise and the screen flickered. Curiosity lit up the Doctor's expression. "Oo, oo… What's that? Hold on. Hold on…." He twisted a knob, adjusting the monitor. "Some sort of… subwave network."

The image cleared and the screen split into four webcam feeds, one of them theirs: the Doctor with Donna and Viera to one side. In the upper right corner was a man grinning with relief. Below him were two women with dark skin; one of them looked young enough to be the other's daughter. The last screen held another pair who could be family, a woman and a teenage boy.

They all looked terribly happy to see the Doctor, though the man soon showed anger, worried desperation fast on its heels.

"Where the hell have you been? Doctor, it's the Daleks!"

In the background they heard a woman's voice. "Oh, he's a bit nice. I thought he'd be older."

"He's not that young," came the voice of a man.

The woman with the boy spoke up. "It's the Daleks! They're taking people to their spaceship!"

The younger woman in the other frame began to talk as well. Viera glanced over to watch a grin spread across the Doctor's face, fondness and _pride_ shining through.

"Who are all these people?" she asked Donna quietly in an effort to avoid interrupting what was certainly an important discussion.

"Well that one's Martha," Donna replied, pointing somewhat discreetly to the young black woman. "She used to travel with the Doctor."

"That's Sarah Jane!" the Doctor supplied, obviously listening to their conversation anyways. He turned back to the woman with the teenager, affection coloring his voice. "Who's that boy? That must be Torchwood," he added, pointing to the last corner. "Aren't they brilliant? Look at you all, you clever people!"

Donna was studying the screen, a sly grin pulling at her lips. She pointed to the man from Torchwood. "And who's he?"

"Captain Jack," the Doctor answered. "Don't," he warned in the same breath, shaking his finger at Donna. "Just don't."

Viera grinned, relieved that everything was back to its normal, dangerous, but generally cheerful chaos. "Did they all travel with you?" she asked.

"Oh, at one time or another," the Doctor replied, looking at the people on screen, taking them in. Or perhaps searching for somebody else.

"It's like… an outer-space Facebook!" Donna commented.

"Everyone except Rose…" he murmured, more to himself than to them. Viera and Donna gave him a concerned glance, then met each other's eyes. They were going to have to find that girl, one way or another. The Doctor had gotten his hopes up; he deserved to have her back. Even if the universe wasn't going to make it easy, they had to find a way to reunite them. Had to.

Suddenly the webcams were gone; the monitor filled with static. The Doctor groaned.

"We've lost them!" Donna worried.

He twisted a knob, trying to bring the picture back. "No, no, no, no, no! There's another signal coming through, there's someone else out there." He thumped the top of the monitor. "Hello? Can you hear me? …Rose?" There was so much _hope_ in his voice, but it was all washed away as the voice came through the speakers.

"Your voice is different, and yet, its arrogance is unchanged," a gravely, almost electronic voice came through. The Doctor went very still. Then a figure came on screen that made Donna step back in horror. He, it, the thing on screen was in an electronic wheelchair. His eyes were gone, or perhaps had never been there. Sunken holes showed where they should be, twisted into knarled scar tissue. A single orb glowed blue at the center of his forehead, though Viera couldn't tell if it was actually an eye. His head seemed to be screwed into an odd silver frame that rose from the back of his chair.

Viera swallowed and moved closer to the Doctor, more worried about the way he'd frozen than the arrival of the newest threat. She didn't say a word, but she pulled his hand from where it gripped the console, threaded her fingers through his and held on. He didn't acknowledge her aside from curling his hand tightly around hers. He couldn't seem to look away from the screen.

"Welcome to my new Empire, Doctor," the graveled voice taunted. "It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, Lord and Creator of the Dalek Race."

The Doctor said nothing. He did nothing.

"Doctor?" Donna asked worriedly.

"Have you nothing to say?" Davros questioned.

Donna tried to reassure the Doctor, unnerved at the show of fear. "Doctor, it's alright. We're… We're in the TARDIS. We're safe." Her voice was gentle, concerned. She could be very mothering sometimes, in the very best way. Viera loved her for that.

He didn't seem to hear her, though he finally spoke. He sounded almost numb with shock. "But you were destroyed. In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysiem. " His voice shook, though his hand didn't. Was Davros so horrifying that he could shake the Doctor up like that with just his presence? Or was it the memories of the Time War that striped away all his defenses? "I saw your command ship flying into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you…"

Of course he'd tried. He always tried, their Doctor.

"But it took one stronger than you," Davros replied. "Dalek Cann himself." In the background they heard a sing-song voice speak up.

"I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times." It sounded completely mad, whatever it was.

"Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself," Davros explained.

Disbelieving anger worked its way past the Doctor's shock. "But that's impossible. The entire War is time-locked!"

"And yet, he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine… a single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"

"And you made a new race of Daleks," the Doctor spat, sounding properly horrified.

"I gave myself to them. Quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." Davros unbuttoned his shirt and pulled the flap aside to show the skin gone from his torso, ribs and organs visible.

"Ugh," Viera couldn't help but groan, making a face as she stepped back. She didn't let go of the Doctor's hand.

"New Daleks," Davros continued. "True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have now?"

Viera clenched her teeth at that, angry that the mad man would poke at the Doctor's wounds. _He has us!_ She nearly said it aloud, but the Doctor was talking.

"After all this time…" he said quietly. "Everything we saw, everything we lost… I have only one thing to say to you." Then suddenly the Doctor was back to himself, wild and full of edgy maniac glee. "Bye!" He yanked on a lever and the screen shut off.

The TARDIS was moving again, though it was a much smoother ride than before.

"You were acting?" Viera asked, relieved as she loosened her grip on his hand.

"Quite good, wasn't I?" the Doctor replied with a cheeky grin. He flinched as Donna hit him in the arm.

"You had me worried, you idiot!" she snapped, just as relieved though she showed it differently.

"Oi!" he protested, rubbing his arm. "I had to keep him talking."

Viera changed the subject. "All those people… they're the ones who led us here?"

The Doctor grinned, pride showing through. "Brilliant, aren't they? I only take the best."

She hated to dampen the mood, but Viera had another question. "What's a Dalek?" she asked quietly, almost apologetic. The Doctor's smile was gone just like that.

"They're dangerous. They spend their whole lives inside their metal suit of armor, their only purpose to destroy. Davros removed their emotions when they created them, all except hate," he explained ominously. "They're monsters."

"What do they want with the planets?" Donna questioned.

The Doctor looked grim. "That is the question."

The TARDIS landed smoothly and the three of them trailed outside. They were outside a church. The whole area looked abandoned, like the setting of an apocalyptic movie. Cars were left with their lights on and their doors open. The street was empty.

"It's like a ghost town," Donna murmured, looking around.

"Sarah Jane said that they were taking the people. But what for?" the Doctor questioned aloud. He turned to Donna. "Think, Donna. When you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say?"

"Just… the darkness is coming."

"Anything else?" he urged.

Donna looked thoughtful a moment, then her eyes shifted to one side and something in her expression changed. Viera turned around to follow her gaze. There was a blond woman walking towards them down the street. She was carrying a huge gun, confidence in her stride. She seemed familiar to Viera, but she couldn't quite place why.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Donna asked softly.

_That's Rose?_ Viera turned back just in time to see the Doctor's expression as he caught sight of her. It was just shock at first, then wonder and awe filled his eyes. And _hope_. So much hope. Then he took a step towards her and suddenly he was running. Viera stepped up beside Donna, both of them smiling in shared relief and happiness at the reunion. The Doctor _deserved_ Rose.

He almost made it.

"Exterminate!" ground out a metallic voice from the shadows. A creature glided into the light, covered in gleaming metal with slender weapons instead of arms. _Dalek._

It happened too fast for anyone to stop it. The Doctor tried to stop and turn as the Dalek shot its laser. The blast only skimmed his chest, but apparently that was enough. The Doctor fell. Rose ran and dropped to her knees next to him. Out of nowhere Captain Jack of Torchwood appeared, just in time to shoot the Dalek before it could any more harm. The creature exploded.

It took a minute for Viera's mind to catch up with what was happening. Donna took off running towards the Doctor, which finally prompted Viera to get her own feet moving. She felt sick and cold inside, even as denial wrapped her firmly in its grasp. _This can't be happening. Not now. Not the Doctor. Not. Now._

Rose was there first, but the rest of them reached the Doctor soon after. She was cradling his head, begging him to stay. It filled Viera's eyes with tears. _Not now. They got so close. It can't end here. Not like this._ She had the Obetovat but no idea how to use it. Viera would have, without flinching, even if it cost her life. She have given anything in that moment to know how to fix things.

"Get him into the TARDIS! Quick!" Jack ordered. Rose and Donna bent to help lift him, carrying him to safety. Viera felt hope loosen the knot in her chest. It had only been a glancing shot. Maybe it wasn't fatal. Maybe there was something they could do. There had to be. She saw Jack watching the shadows and picked up the gun Rose had dropped, holding it with both hands. Viera had never shot a gun before, let alone killed, but she'd do anything to protect the people she loved.

Jack covered one side and she watched the shadows with shaky paranoia on the other.

"Know how to use that thing?" he asked, something lighthearted threading through his otherwise grim voice. That reminded her a bit of the Doctor, the moments he grinned in the face of so much darkness.

"Point and pull the trigger?" Viera offered, only briefly glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"Don't forget to brace yourself," Jack added.

She never had to shoot the gun, though there were several times in the minute it took them to reach the ship that she nearly shot at things shifting in the breeze. When they reached the TARDIS, Viera handed Jack her gun and turned to unlock the door. She had to borrow the key from around Donna's neck since she didn't have one, but at least Donna didn't have to let go of the Doctor. They carried him inside and lowered him to the ground.

The Doctor was groaning, writhing in pain.

"What do we do?" Viera pleaded for directions, watching Jack as he rounded the center controls and tossed the guns down on the bench.

"There must be some medicine or something!" Donna gasped, nearly in tears.

"We'll fly the TARDIS. Take him to a hospital," Viera offered.

"Just step back," Jack ordered. "Rose! Do as I say and get back!"

"What?" Viera asked, hands hovering over one of the levers. "Why?"

Rose wouldn't look away from the Doctor. Jack's voice was gentle but firm as he spoke to her. "He's dying and you know what happens next."

Donna stood slowly. "What do you mean?" she asked, staring at Jack.

_Shouldn't he be more upset?_ Viera returned her attention to Rose as she cried over the Doctor, her attention never wavering from him.

"But you can't…" Rose begged. "Not now. I came all this way."

"What do you mean?" Donna demanded, stepping up to Jack. "What happens next?"

The Doctor raised a hand, glowing with golden light. "It's starting," he gasped, watching the light with something between fear and resignation.


	11. 4:3 Surrender

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**The TARDIS Falls: "Terminal" by James Dooley**

**

* * *

**

PART FOUR – JOURNEY'S END

Chapter Three – Surrender

The rest of the world went a bit quiet for Viera then. She could _feel_ it, whatever was happening to the Doctor. She didn't understand what it was, but she could feel it the way she felt the TARDIS, the way she'd felt the Obetovat. There was _power_ there, energy. It flowed through his whole body, not just his hand. The Doctor groaned.

Jack pulled Rose away from the Doctor. "Here we go," he stated, oddly upbeat. "Good luck, Doctor." He put his arms around Donna and Rose protectively, glancing over to make sure Viera remained a safe distance away. Her eyes were glued to the Doctor, struggling to pull himself up using the console.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Donna demanded frantically.

Rose was the one who answered. "When he's dying his… his body, it… it repairs itself. It changes." She turned her attention to the Doctor again, anguished. "But you can't."

He was struggling, against the light or against the wound, Viera couldn't tell. He had eyes only for Rose. "I'm sorry," he stated. "It's too late. I'm regenerating!" With that he threw back his head and spread his arms wide. The golden light exploded from his skin, blasting from his head and limbs with a brightness that made them cringe.

Then he turned, aiming the light at the glass jar that held his hand. Viera felt the power shift, felt it move from the Doctor to the flesh of the hand and begin to subside. She looked up with wide eyes to see the Doctor standing there, panting but otherwise as well as he could be.

The ship was silent until the Doctor caught his breath. "Well then. Where were we?" They all stood watching, still stunned.

"Is that what's supposed to happen?" Viera asked carefully. Jack shook his head while Rose stared at the Doctor, slack-jawed.

The man himself was down on all fours, looking at the jar. Viera walked around the center controls as he murmured "there now" and blew gently at the glass. She felt the power go dormant as the hand stopped glowing altogether. The Doctor smiled, looking terribly pleased with himself and the world in general as he sat up.

"You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but as soon as that was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to, why would I?" He adjusted his tie with a lift of his chin. "Look at me! So, to stop the energy going all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle. Namely, my hand. My hand, there. My handy spare hand." The Doctor stood and looked at Rose as they all tried to catch up to his quickly-babbled explanation. "Remember? Christmas Day? Sycorax? Lost my hand in a sword fight? That's my hand! What do you think?"

Rose finally began to move towards him. "And… you're still you?"

"I'm still me," he assured her, a pleased little smile on his lips. The hope was back in his eyes, mixed with sheer, utter joy instead of shock. Then Rose leapt at him with a hug and he clung to her, a happy little smile on his face.

Viera had never seen him so content. He'd finally found what was missing. She grinned to see it, glancing over to see similar expressions on the others.

"You can hug me if you want," Donna told Jack, nearly laughing with relief. Jack chuckled as well, then her tone got serious. "No really, you can hug me." Jack didn't seem to know quite what to do with that.

Viera shook her head, still grinning. _Thank you_, she prayed, finally able to take a moment to clear her head. _Thank you, thank you, thank you!_

The Doctor and Rose stayed like that for several minutes, just wrapped up in each other. Viera turned to Jack to give them a moment.

"We haven't actually met. I'm Viera," she introduced, offering her hand. Instead of shaking it, Jack brought it to his lips and kissed the back. He didn't hesitate exactly, but she saw him pause ever so briefly at the sight of the scars twisting over her skin.

"Captain Jack Harkness, at your service," he murmured, looking up while he was still bent over her hand. Viera just blinked at him, bemused and rather wrong-footed by the flirty tone.

"Don't," the Doctor warned mildly. He'd stepped out of the hug, but he still had one arm wrapped around Rose's shoulders.

"I was just introducing myself," Jack protested.

"She's Cistota," the Doctor replied simply. Viera wasn't entirely sure it was necessary to bring _that_ up, Jack was only saying hello, but perhaps it was best to get it out of the way.

The subject had come up during their first shopping trip. Donna had teased her about one of the shop boys who'd been flirting with Viera. Viera had explained that she was very picky about her relationships, then somehow found herself in a mortifying conversation about love, sex, marriage and everything in between.

She'd thought sex was too casual in 1998. Ending up in the 51st century where gender, species, even the number of partners weren't considered obstacles had been… a bit of a culture shock. Viera had been conservative for _her_ time. She was the crazy sort of person that believed sex was meant for marriage and that never grew out of the idea that a first kiss should belong to someone you really loved.

Aside from her new-found friends being very supportive and understanding, the only real consolation had been being pretty sure that the Doctor had been nearly as flustered as she was when Donna turned on him with questions about Time Lords. The red-head had been perfectly comfortable with the conversation of course. She had to admit, as terribly disconcerting as the frank conversation had been, Viera had felt a great deal closer to both her companions when they were done. And she'd been grateful for the Doctor's suggestion to claim she was one of the Cistota if anyone treated her too casually.

The Cistota were a race of people, but the word was also used to label their cultural paradigm. They took personal boundaries and anything remotely intimate very seriously. Kissing was practically considered courtship, which was honestly right up Viera's ally.

"Really?" Jack looked at Viera and she nodded, slightly flushed with the embarrassment of having her reservations examined. "What century are you from?"

Viera grinned slightly at his bemusement. "This one. Or nearly. 1998."

"Huh," was all Jack had to say to that.

"Well I'm no Cistota," Donna spoke up, offering her hand as well. "Donna Noble."

Jack grinned and kissed the back of her hand. Donna had an equally flirty grin on her face, and Viera thought the Doctor might have his hands full with those two.

Apparently he was thinking along the same lines. "Alright, alright. Break it up," he ordered, moving around the side of the console. "Give me a hand with this."

They followed directions, spreading out around the controls, but before they could find out exactly what he was having them do, the power went out. The Doctor stepped around the console, trying different switches and buttons. Nothing worked. Viera could still feel the TARDIS, but it was muted, dormant.

"They've got us," the Doctor said. "Power's gone. Some kind of chronon loop." Then the ship gave a jerk as something outside moved them. They all grabbed for the console to hold themselves up.

"There's a massive Dalek ship at the center of the planets," Jack explained. "They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination."

"You said these planets were like an engine. But what for?" Donna asked.

The Doctor turned to the blond. "Rose, you've been in a parallel world, that world's running ahead of this universe . You've seen the future. What is it?"

"It's darkness," Rose stated quietly.

"The stars were goin' out," Donna interjected.

"One by one," finished Rose. "We looked up at the sky and they were just dying. Basically, we've been building this um... this travel machine, this... uh... dimension cannon, so I could..." She glanced up at the Doctor. "Well, so I could..."

"What?" the Doctor asked, urging her on.

"So I could come back!" Rose finally admitted. The Doctor grinned, so happy just to hear her say it. Rose grinned back at him. The others couldn't help smiling as well, pleased to see their Doctor so content. "Shut up," Rose teased. Then she continued, her words wiping their grins away. "Anyway, suddenly, it started to work. And the dimensions started to collapse. Not just in our world. Not just in yours, but the whole of reality. Even the Void was dead. Something is... destroying everything."

Donna finally spoke up. "In that parallel world… you said something about me."

"The dimension cannon could measure timelines, and it's... it's weird, Donna," Rose explained, "but they all seem to converge on you."

Donna was completely wrong-footed by that. "But why me?" she asked. "I mean, what have I ever done? I'm a temp from Chiswick!" A beep from the computer kept them from exploring that further.

The Doctor peered at the screen, expression serious. "The Dalek Crucible. All aboard."

The TARDIS landed with a faint jolt. Outside they heard those awful Dalek voices. "The TARDIS is secured. Doctor! You will step forth or die!"

Viera's gaze shifted to the Doctor. He still looked grim and it sent shivers across her skin. She'd faced danger a lot since meeting the Doctor, but somehow he usually managed to make her believe it'd all work out okay. He didn't look sure of that himself this time. He didn't exactly look frightened either, but then he wouldn't. Not when they were all looking to him to get them through. He'd bury it as deep as he had to.

"We'll have to go out," he stated, watching the door. "Cause if we don't, they'll get in."

Rose looked startled. "You told me nothing could get through those doors."

"You've got extrapolator shielding," Jack protested.

The Doctor turned to them. "Last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids and mad. But this is a fully fledged Dalek Empire… at the height of its power. Experts at fighting TARDISes. They can do anything. Right now that wooden door… is just wood."

_We're really going to have to walk out there, unarmed, completely unprotected,_ Viera realized, watching fear creep into the other companions eyes. _Oh God, I don't want to die here. But if I'm going to, please let it be quick. I don't want to see it coming._

"What about your dimension jump?" Jack asked Rose. She shook her head.

"It needs another twenty minutes," she replied, frowning stubbornly. "And anyway, I'm not leaving."

"What about your teleport?" the Doctor asked Jack. He shook his head as well.

"Went down with the power-loss."

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Right then. All of us together. Yeah?" He glanced around at all of them, calm but absent of his usual cheer.

_Are we giving up? We can't just give up,_ Viera thought, trying to find some semblance of the same calm. It helped, having them all there in the situation, calm and steady. But she was scared, so scared. They were at the mercy of creatures who didn't have any mercy, and at the moment at least, the Doctor couldn't see a way out. _We don't have a choice. God help us, we're out of options._

The Doctor focused on Donna, who Viera was realizing had been unusually quiet. She turned to see her red-headed friend looking frozen, staring off into space.

"Donna?" the Doctor queried. She didn't reply, didn't move. Viera moved towards her at the same time the Doctor did.

"You alright?" Viera asked worriedly, taking her hand. Donna gave a gasp, like she'd been jerked awake, and finally focused on them. The Doctor took her other hand, solemnly looking her in the eye.

"Yeah," Donna breathed.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing else we can do," the Doctor apologized.

She nodded. Donna still looked a bit dazed, but she didn't look scared, not any more than the rest of them anyways. "No, I know," she assured him.

"Okay," the Doctor mouthed, squeezing her hand before he let go. He turned away, walking around the console.

From outside came the Dalek's rough voices. "Surrender, Doctor, and face your Dalek masters!"

"Daleks," Rose laughed a bit nervously.

"Oh God," Jack spoke up, laughing as well. Viera couldn't quite work up a smile. She had neither the courage or the bravado of the others. Her instincts were telling her to run and hide in the farthest corner of the TARDIS and pray they didn't find her. Neither her heart nor her mind would allow that, of course, but the desire was still there. Fear kept her quiet, compliant.

The Doctor turned, looking around at them all. "It's been good though, hasn't it? All of us… all of it… everything we did…" His gaze landed on Donna, a fond sincere smile on his lips. "You were brilliant." Then looked at Jack, who grinned. "And you were brilliant." Then to Viera, who didn't feel brilliant at all. She felt small and helpless, but she still would've stepped onto the TARDIS given the chance to choose again, so maybe that was what mattered most. "You were brilliant," the Doctor told her seriously, and for a moment Viera believed him.

"And you were brilliant," he told Rose, the tone of his voice shifting just a little. A little more warmth, a little more love seeped into his eyes whenever he spoke to Rose. Viera thought it was tragic that it all had to end so soon after they found each other again. _He's saying goodbye._

"Blimey," the Doctor sighed, finally turning towards the door.

_He really doesn't think we're going to get out of this_, Viera thought, watching him. He took a breath, expression showing no fear. Then he strode through the door of the TARDIS, strong and unyielding. _Impossible not to admire that. Waited most of my life for someone worth following. Even following him into this… It's been worth it. And there are far worse reasons to die_. It helped Viera hold onto her fraying composure as Rose, then Jack followed. Donna motioned her on with an understanding look, putting her in the middle of the group. Still looking after her. Viera took a shaky breath and followed Jack out of the deception of safety offered by the TARDIS.

They left cautiously, one by one. Their gazes were drawn immediately to the rest of the ship. The ground, all the levels, even the air was full of metal-armored Daleks. There were so many of them; they were _everywhere_, their gritty voices chanting their victory.

"Daleks reign supreme! All hail the Daleks! Daleks reign supreme! All hail the Daleks!"

_Talk about being outnumbered_. Viera thought breathlessly, heart pounding in her ears. She reached back for Donna's hand, desperate for contact, but Donna wasn't there. Viera turned and took a step back towards the TARDIS. She could see Donna inside, staring at the console, though Viera couldn't see why.

"Donna?" she whispered, trying not to attract attention. The last thing she wanted was to appear uncooperative. Donna didn't seem to hear her. Viera edged a little closer.

"Behold, Doctor. Behold the might of the true Dalek Race," she heard one of the Daleks proclaim.

"Donna?" the Doctor called. "It's no safer in there." Donna finally shook herself and turned back towards the door, meeting Viera's eyes.

It slammed shut between them.

"Viera? Doctor?" Donna's voice came muffled through the door. She thumped on the door, jiggling the handle. "What've you done?"

Viera pushed at the door to no avail. The Doctor raced over and nudged her over to one side. He pressed his hands against the TARDIS, testing the edges of the door.

"It wasn't me," he said. "I didn't do anything!"

"Oi! Oi, I'm not staying behind!" Donna protested, still trying to force her way past the door.

The Doctor turned to the largest Dalek. "What did you do?" he demanded fiercely.

"This is not of Dalek origin," it replied.

"Doctor!" Donna shouted, beginning to sound frantic as she pounded on the door.

The Doctor was getting angry. "Stop it! She's my friend. Now open the door and let her out," he spat.

_But why would they lie about this? They have us all at their mercy already. They seem sure of their success. Why the deception?_ Viera pondered worriedly. Was it possible the Dalek's weren't responsible? She knew the Doctor wasn't. He was really, honestly angry; it was frightening to see. But if they hadn't messed with the TARDIS, who had? Viera leaned against the ship, palms against the wood. She didn't feel anything odd, no strange energies, not that that meant much. Her "gifts" were hardly dependable.

"This is Time Lord treachery!" the Dalek claimed.

"Me? The door just closed on its own!" the Doctor protested.

"Nevertheless: the TARDIS is a weapon and it will be destroyed." At the Dalek's words a trapdoor opened beneath the ship. The TARDIS fell.

"Help!" Viera cried, nearly tumbling in after it as her support vanished. The Doctor caught her around the waist in the nick of time and dragged her back onto solid ground. When they looked back down, the TARDIS was gone and their friend with it.

"Donna," Viera breathed, clinging to the Doctor as she stared into the hole.

"What're you doing?" he demanded as the others ran up to see for themselves. "Bring it _back_!"

"What have you done? Where's it going?" He let Viera go to stalk towards the Dalek. She couldn't look away from the hole, denial already coiling around her heart.

_Oh God, please,_ Viera prayed.

"The Crucible has a heart of Z-neutrino energy. The TARDIS will be deposited into the core," the Dalek stated triumphantly.

Viera's felt cold as the Doctor reacted with horror, desperation, _fear_. "But you can't. You've taken the defenses down. It'll be torn apart!"

"But Donna's still in there!" Rose protested.

"Let her _go_!" Jack ordered furiously.

The Dalek was unmoved. "The female and the TARDIS will perish together! Observe." A holographic screen flickered to life above them. It showed the TARDIS, bobbing on the surface of a massive orb of energy like a cork about to go under.

_No_, Viera pleaded silently, backing away from the trapdoor and the hologram with a pounding heart and clammy hands. _There has to be something we can do. Some way to get it back. Donna's going to die. The TARDIS is going to die. Please._

"The last child of Gallifrey is powerless,'' the Dalek taunted.

Viera's gaze flickered around the room as she continued to back away, desperate for something, _anything_. The Daleks were all focused on the Doctor's defeat, his helpless pleas. He was _begging_ for Donna's life when Viera bumped into thick power cords that ran from the ceiling down through the floor and deep into the ship. She went still, a stupid, suicidal plan running through her mind.

"Please," the Doctor entreated the Dalek. "I'm begging you. I'll do anything! Put me in her place! You can do anything to me! I don't care; _just get her out of there_!"

_Desperate times call for desperate measures_, Viera thought. Donna was running out of time. The Dalek would kill her, but if she could get the TARDIS somewhere relatively safe, it'd be worth it. Even if she was just buying Donna time, she had to try. Viera jumped up and grabbed the nearest cord, throwing all her weight behind it. She prayed the Dalek would be slow to turn, slow to fire. She needed a few seconds before they killed her.

The cord wretched free of the ceiling in a shower of sparks. The Dalek, the Doctor, Rose and Jack all turned as Viera shoved the sizzling electricity of the broken cord against her right palm and opened herself up to the ship.

She only needed a few seconds. Time felt different, plugged into the power of the Crucible like that. The physical world fell away and it was just her and the ship. The power led her to the computers, her mind working faster than humanly possible. Those computers gave her control of the tractor beam that had brought the TARDIS there in the first place. Only milliseconds went by as she turned them inwards towards the core and felt the TARDIS begin to rise. She had to set it somewhere safe before they shot her.

Then Viera froze, the TARDIS stilling only inches from the surface of the core.

_Let it go_, instinct prompted, gentle but insistent. _Let it go_. She didn't understand why. She could feel the TARDIS through the tractor beam and the open channels in her mind. It was singing as it always did, but it was singing _to_ her this time, louder than ever. It sang peace and acceptance and absolute certainty. Again instinct demanded she let it go. _It's alright. It's alright. Just let go._

She let it go.

The power cord slipped from Viera's grasp. She found herself on the floor, panting and dazed, not entirely certain what had just happened.

"Exterminate!" rang out. Viera looked up to see a bright flash of blue flare toward her. The Doctor cried out a warning but she couldn't move to save herself. It was already too late.

Or it would have been if Jack hadn't stepped in the way.

He gave a loud cry and his body arched against the pain before dropping to the ground, lifeless.

"No," Viera gasped, reaching for him. There was no pulse at his neck, no matter how hard she tried to find it. Rose screamed and darted towards them, but there were Dalek in the way and the Doctor held her back to keep them from killing her as way.

"It is all for nothing!" the Supreme Dalek declared. Viera glanced up to see the TARDIS on the holographic screen, still dying in the core. _I can't have,_ she thought vaguely. _I can't have just let Donna die. No. NO._ She tried to find that sense of peace she'd felt before, but all Viera could feel at the moment was a sick, twisted feeling of numbness creeping through her insides.

"You are connected to the TARDIS," the Dalek continued. "Now, feel it die."

One of the others began a countdown. "Total TARDIS destruction in ten rels!" Viera couldn't watch. She closed her eyes and waited for it to be over, knowing that as soon as the TARDIS was gone they'd finish her off. They were likely only leaving her alive long enough to show her the futility of her efforts. "Three! Two! One!" the Dalek finished. Viera bowed her head, still crouched on the floor next to Jack's corpse.

"The TARDIS has been destroyed," the Supreme Dalek gloated. "Now, tell me, Doctor... what do you feel? Anger? Sorrow? Despair?"

The Doctor's reply was so quiet Viera nearly didn't hear it. "Yeah."

One of the other Daleks apparently felt it was time to continue the executions. "Exterminate," it declared. Viera heard it turn towards her and braced herself.

"No!" the Doctor shouted.

"Wait," the Supreme Dalek commanded at nearly the same time. Viera looked up, startled to still be alive. "The female is unique. She will be taken for further study." Viera thought perhaps it would have been easier to be exterminated.

"Leave her alone!" the Doctor yelled, stepping forward. The Supreme Dalek turned and fired, stopping him in his tracks. He'd fired towards Rose, missing her by inches. The threat was obvious; the Doctor didn't dare take another step. Rose looked frightened and angry. Despair and indecision played across the Doctor's face.

"It's alright," Viera breathed. "It's alright," she tried again, a little louder. They turned to look at her, but Viera couldn't meet the Doctor's eyes. _My fault anyways_. She staggered to her feet. "I'll go."

She didn't see the Doctor's gaze fall to Jack before he reluctantly subsided. Viera let one of the Dalek prod her in the direction of a hallway while another dragged Jack's body alongside.

"Escort them to the vault," she heard the Supreme Dalek order behind her. Viera tried to comfort herself with the knowledge that the Doctor and Rose would remain alive for the moment. It didn't really help all that much.

_Jack. Donna. She can't be dead,_ Viera thought numbly as she was guided down hallways, most of them nearly deserted. Most of the Daleks were congregating in the central parts of the ship, awaiting their victory. Viera hardly noticed._ She can't be dead. The TARDIS can't be gone. Not because of me._

_Not because of me_.

They were in a deserted hallways when the impossible happened. Jack sat up suddenly, a small gun in hand. He shot the Dalek dragging him straight in the eye-stock several times in a row. It's shield collapsed and the last shot blew its 'head' to bits. The second turned to kill him, shouting "Exterminate!"

Instinct saved them for once. Without stopping to think, Viera slammed a hand down on the back of the Dalek's dome, hitting the shield. She pulled, leaching power in massive quantities and dragging it into herself. It burned through power channels that were already raw from her earlier stunt, but it kept the Dalek from firing long enough for Jack to turn the gun on it.

"Move!" he shouted as he fired. Viera leapt out of the way just in time to avoid most of the shrapnel as the second Dalek exploded as well, its shield already dead.

For a long moment Viera just stared at the wreckage, her mind only then trying to catch up. A grunt behind her had her spinning around to face Jack.

"You're not dead," Viera stated obviously. "How are you not dead?"


	12. 4:4 The Children of Time

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Companions' Hearts: "Time Will Remember Us" by Epic Score**

**

* * *

**

PART FOUR – JOURNEY'S END

Chapter Four – The Children of Time

"It's a long story," Jack brushed off the question rather angrily. "We need to get out of here." He glanced around a moment before taking off at a fast pace down the hallway, peeking around corners warily as they went.

"What the hell was that back there?" he demanded fiercely when no Dalek came to investigate the noise they'd made.

"What do you mean?" she asked, though she had a pretty good guess.

"You _had_ the TARDIS. Donna. Then you just…" Jack waved a hand wildly, too angry and frustrated to find the right words.

Viera was about at the end of her rope and his belligerent tone made her snappy. "It's a long story." Jack scowled at her dangerously, but Viera had been too scared for too long already and for once she didn't find that intimidating. They frowned at each other for a long moment then Jack turned his attention to getting them somewhere useful. Viera reminded herself that Jack had saved her life twice already as he knelt to pull the grate off a ventilation shaft.

"Thanks," she murmured, sincere but still just a bit wary. "For saving me." He didn't answer. The guilt and worry came back in a rush, draining away her defensive anger. Really, Viera could hardly blame him for being furious with her. She knew what she'd done didn't make any sense. She hadn't just failed, she'd let them go on purpose. Jack deserved an explanation Viear wasn't quite sure how to give.

"I wasn't supposed to stop it," she said finally, trying to convince herself as much as him. She couldn't really have let Donna fall to her death, could she? There had to be something else going on. Viera saw Jack tense. "There was this voice," she tried to explain.

"Oh, so you're hearing voices now. Fantastic," he spat sarcastically, turning to glare at her just before he crawled into the vent.

She followed, trying not to show how much the tone stung. "It's hard to explain," she protested quietly. Viera turned to pull the grate back into place behind them. Her hands stung, her body ached and her head was pounding, though she didn't protest. The scars were freshly burned wounds again, from the palms of her hands, most of the way up her arms. Crawling on all fours through the vents was hardly great fun, but it was definitely better than behind 'studied' by the Daleks or flat-out dead. She tried not to take into account her mild claustrophobia.

"You let her fall," Jack gritted. "What's to explain?"

"She can't be dead. The TARDIS wanted to fall," Viera whispered. That made Jack pause.

"How could you know that?" he asked finally, speaking quietly as they crawled through the ventilation shaft.

"You saw the scars on my hands? The thing I did with the electricity? I'm a conduct. It makes me… open to certain things, like the TARDIS. I can hear her when she's close enough. When I caught her…" Viera took a deep breath, struggling against the nightmarish sensation of letting Donna fall. "She can't be dead."

"Shhh…" Jack hissed, stopping as they heard the sound of Daleks passing nearby. She stilled obediently. They didn't move again until it was quiet, Viera counting out the seconds over the pounding of her heart. Jack might be able to come back from the dead, but she pretty sure she couldn't.

"When you die… do you remember anything between that and waking up?" she wondered aloud when they were moving again.

"You're asking if there's anything after death?" he clarified, something bitter teasing at the edges of his voice. "Sorry. There's nothing, no afterlife, no heaven or hell, just… darkness."

Viera didn't find that particularly concerning, though she hesitated to breach the subject with Jack. It was a touchy subject and she wasn't entirely sure Jack liked her anyways. "Maybe God knew you were coming back," she suggested softly. "Maybe you simply aren't meant to remember. Maybe we all sleep when we die until Judgment Day. That's hardly reason to dismiss the possibility or heaven and hell." Perhaps that had come out a bit more belligerent than she'd meant it to.

"You do know that the Doctor's been to the beginning of the world, that science, not religion, got it right?"

"Yes, actually. Though if I hadn't that would have been a lovely way to find out," Viera drawled, remembering how shaken she'd been after being misplaced by time, far from anyone who shared her beliefs.

Jack managed to sound mostly sincere, glancing back over his shoulder. "Sorry."

"I just…" Viera sighed. "I'm still not sure what exactly to think about the Bible and creation, but I do believe in God, in a Creator. Jesus was a real person, even the Doctor admits that, and I believe he was God's son. I believe in heaven and hell and that one day time and space and everything will end, and on that day everything will be made right." She was babbling by the end of it, unable to stop once she'd started despite knowing Jack might find it rather naïve.

"Bit of a blind optimist, aren't you?" Jack asked skeptically, though he kindly didn't take any other jabs at her faith.

"Something like that," she admitted. Viera didn't feel particularly optimistic at the moment, but considering the situation perhaps any sort of hope should be considered optimism. Or perhaps just stubbornness, in Jack's case.

They grew quiet for a while as they wandered the vents. Jack kept glancing at something strapped to his wrist. Viera felt too worn to work up the curiosity to ask; she simply followed compliantly.

Something in the universe shifted and Viera went very still. It took a moment for Jack to realize she'd stopped. He didn't look very happy as he came back for her.

"What are you doing?" he hissed. "We need to get back to the Doctor." His irritation faded when her gaze finally focused on him, her hazel eyes full of fear.

"Something's wrong," she breathed. The world went hazy as the ship shuddered softly. Revulsion filled Viera and she doubled over as every cell in her body protested the realignment of energy focusing on the Crucible. "Oh God," she whimpered. _27 planets._

The world burned behind her eyelids even as she clinched them shut. Her whole body seized up into an infective ball as she sought to somehow protect herself. Viera couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't even vomit to ease the taint she felt scorching through her. She didn't hear Jack's questions or comforting. It was too much. Death would have been better. Viera just wanted it to end.

Then it did. She found herself shivering on the floor of the vent, warm hands at her neck feeling for a pulse. _Jack_.

"Can you hear me?" he was asking. Viera gave a shaky nod and he sighed, sitting back with a look of mingled relief and worry. "You alright? You had some sort of attack. You stopped breathing." Jack let her lean against him as she sat up, still shaking. "What was that?"

"Something awful," Viera replied, closing her eyes a moment. "I don't know. I don't…" She swallowed back nausea; the air still felt tainted, wrong. Viera opened her eyes to look at Jack. "We _have_ to stop them. It's not just the Earth at risk. Everything… We have to stop them."

"Alright," Jack agreed solemnly. "Let's get moving. You going to be alright?"

"Yeah," Viera agreed. _As long as we can stop that from happening again._

Their pace was a little slower, but they were already close to their goal. Jack paused by a vent grate and motioned for Viera to hold back a moment. Then he burst through the grate, rolling out into the hallway. Viera held her breath. When there was no sounds of firing, she peeked out cautiously. A dark-skinned young man, probably her age, stood in front of two older woman. One of them was blond. The other was Sarah Jane. Viera breathed a sigh of relief and crawled out of the vent, letting Jack talk.

"Just my luck. I climb through two miles of ventilation shafts, chasing life signs on this thing," he grumbled, motioning to his wrist, "and who do I find? Mickey Mouse!"

The young man frowned at him. "You can talk, Captain Cheesecake." For a moment Viera was wary, then they both burst out laughing and rushed forward to greet each other with a huge.

_Boys,_ she sighed, relaxing. _Honestly_.

"Good to see ya!" Jack said, looking down at Mickey without letting go. "And that's Beefcake."

"And that's enough hugging," Mickey returned. Jack let him go, still smiling. Mickey glanced at Viera who gave a small wave and a smile. She felt awkward among strangers, even as relieved as she was to be among allies.

"We meet at last, Ms Smith," Jack greeted Sarah Jane with a salute.

She apparently wasn't in the mood to waste time on greetings. "There is something we can do. You've got to understand," Sarah pleaded. "I have a son down there on Earth. He's only fourteen years old. I brought this." She held up a necklace and Viera felt a shiver run down her spine. It wasn't an ordinary necklace. The large jewel radiated light and power. Viera kept her distance even as Sarah Jane handed it to Jack.

"It was given to me by a Verron Soothsayer. He said 'this is for the end of days'."

"Is that a warp star?" Jack asked, awe and excitement coloring his voice. Sarah Jane nodded.

Mickey spoke up. "Gonna tell me what a warp star is?"

"A warpfold conjugation trapped in a carbonised shell," Jack explained, eyes glued to the jewel. "It's an explosion, Mickey. An explosion waiting to happen."

Their plans snowballed rather quickly after that. Viera stayed out of the way as Jack and Mickey bound the warp star into the ship's wiring. She met Jackie, Rose's mother, who finally explained what had happened to her in the vents. The Daleks had built a weapon that erased people. It didn't just kill them, it broke them apart. The power of 27 planets at their disposal and the Daleks were going to use it to destroy everything.

They really didn't have a choice.

When the warp star was ready, Jack and Mickey hacked into one of the security feeds and sent the Daleks a message.

A holographic screen flickered to life, and they could see Davros in what had to be the vault. The Doctor and Rose were there too, all in one piece. Relief washed through Viera, though really none of the them were particularly safe. They were threatening to blow up themselves with the ship after all. It was at least the second suicidal plan Viera had taken part in that day. The Doctor and Rose would die too, but the Earth would safe. Or intact at least. With any luck the Shadow Proclamation would eventually find the planets and return them where they belonged.

Almost anything was better than letting the Dalek continue with their Reality Bomb.

"Captain Jack Harkness calling all Dalek boys and girls! Are you receiving me? Don't send in your goons or I'll set this thing off," Jack warned.

"He's still alive!" In the background Rose looked shocked. She narrowed her eyes at the screen. "Oh my God, that's… That's my mum!" Jackie and Mickey were thrilled to see her, though they kept quiet.

"And Mickey," Doctor said to the side absently. "Captain, what are you doing?"

"I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe," Jack explained. "I break the shell, the entire Crucible goes up."

The Doctor didn't seem to think that as good of a plan as they did. "You can't! Where did you get a Warp Star?"

_Why can't we? Because we'd be killing so many Daleks? Because we'd be killing ourselves?_ Viera wondered, honestly surprised that he seemed so bothered by their plan. _What other choice do we have?_

"From me," Sarah Jane answered the Doctor. "We had no choice. We saw what happened to the prisoners."

Davros slid forward, immediately focused on Sarah Jane. "Impossible. That face… after all these years…"

_Ah the joys of time travel._ Though she listened to Davros and Sarah, Viera watched the Doctor. Actually looking at Davros made her skin crawl. The Doctor still looked greatly disturbed, and Viera had to wonder what he was thinking. She wished he were there with them. She hated being separated, second guessing everything. Had they chosen destruction too quickly? Missed another option? Viera couldn't think of one, though that didn't necessarily mean anything. They had to do _something_, and there was no way to get to the Doctor without getting caught. They didn't even have time to try. Plugging herself into the ship again wouldn't do any good. She could only take control for a short time, seconds at most before the Daleks regained control and killed them all. Even in the short time she'd been plugged in before, Viera had felt the Daleks rewriting the programing to lock her out.

"Davros," Sarah whispered. She narrowed her eyes at the screen, raising her chin in defiance. "That's been quite a while. Sarah Jane Smith. Remember?"

He seemed pleased. "Oh, this is meant to be. The Circle of Time is closing. You were there on Skaro at the very beginning of my creation."

"And I've learned how to fight since then," Sarah spat coldly. "You let the Doctor go or this Warp Star, it gets opened!"

The Doctor was looking away, like he couldn't watch. _Why?_

"I'll do it," Jack threatened, getting a better hold of the necklace. "Don't imagine I wouldn't."

Rose laughed. At least _she_ was impressed. "Now that's what I call a ransom." Finally she noticed the Doctor's downcast expression. "Doctor?" He wouldn't look at her either. Viera felt a bit sick.

"And the prophesy unfolds," Davros gloated.

"The Doctor's soul is revealed!" Dalek Caan cackled madly in the background. "See him! See the heart of him!"

"The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun. But this is the truth, Doctor: you take ordinary people and you fashion _them_ into weapons," Davros jeered. "Behold your Children of Time transformed into murderers."

He still couldn't look at them. He just stood there as Davros spoke, rigid and humbled, without saying a word to defend himself or them.

Usually seeing anything akin to disappointment or disapproval on someone's face made her apologetic to the core, but standing there watching shame darken the Doctor's expression, Viera suddenly felt angry. Indignant. He'd been right to be proud of his companions. _She_ was proud of them and she hardly knew them. They were doing their best, all of them. Yes, violence should be the last resort, but Viera was quite convinced they were _there_.

"I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this," Davros crowed.

"Sometimes the universe needs soldiers," she interrupted before the Doctor could voice whatever reply was on his lips. It was unfortunate but true. She stepped closer to the screen, ducking under Jack's arm, her voice quiet but confident for once. "What other choice do we have? Lie down and die? Let you destroy _everything_?" Viera scoffed. "Sorry, nothing doing. We'll do what we have to do to save as many people as we can." Her gaze narrowed at Devros. "You notice they all gave you a chance to stop this madness, to end this peacefully. Where do you think they learned that?" She couldn't tell if she was getting through to the Doctor at all, though at least he was finally looking at them. Viera gave a cold little grin, feeling more loathing towards Davros than she'd thought she was capable of. Oddly enough she hated Davros far more for making the Doctor question himself, question them, than for all his mad plans for the universe. "And don't kid yourself, Devros. None of these people have ever been ordinary."

She felt Jack clasp her shoulder in support, the warp star still cradled in his other hand. They'd do what they had to do, whether the Doctor approved or not.

Davros narrowed his eyes, or what might have once been eyes. "Weapons and willing sacrifices," he spat, still trying to get under the Doctor's skin. His voice turned smug. "Already I have seen them sacrifice today for their beloved Doctor. The Earth woman who fell opening the subwave network."

"Who was that?" the Doctor asked quietly, surprised and stung by the loss he hadn't even known of.

"Harriet Jones," Rose replied gravely. "She gave her life to get you here."

"How many more?" Devros taunted. "Just think. How many have died in your name? The Doctor... the man who keeps running, never looking back, because he dare not, out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor," he boasted grimly. "I have shown you... yourself."

The Doctor didn't say a word. He stood staring at Devros, his composure fracturing. Even on the screen Viera could see him shake as he swallowed hard. She knew that with a memory like his he'd never forget a single face, not one of the people who'd died around him, the ones he hadn't been able to save, the ones that sacrificed willingly. They were all there in his memories and the Doctor bore the full weight of every death himself. Davros had managed to rip open that wound like a dagger in the heart.

She couldn't bear it, _wouldn't_ bear it, not silently at least. Viera nearly brought up the fact that the amount of people the Doctor had saved well outnumbered those he'd lost, but she stopped herself in time. It wasn't about the numbers. You couldn't weigh one against the other like that. She couldn't say it wasn't true, because it was. They were evidence of that, all there waiting to die, _willing_ to die. But Viera _needed_ to convince the Doctor that it wasn't something he should feel shame for. She needed to try.

"It's not your fault," Viera spoke up. The Doctor looked at the screen but the shattered expression on his face didn't change. Her voice was gentle, compelling as she tried to make him what she saw as complete truth. "It's not. You may have opened our eyes to a bigger world, but the choices we make are ours alone. Our lives, our deaths are our decisions. Not yours."

"You would not be here waiting to die if not for the Doctor!" Davros protested.

"No, we'd be waiting to die back on Earth," Jack retorted.

"Besides, you're not really living until you've found something you're willing to die for," Viera said glancing over at the other companions who smiled back. They understood, even if Davros couldn't and the Doctor wouldn't admit to it. They were lyrics from a song, she was pretty sure, but they'd stuck with her a very long time.

"Some things are just worth it," Jack agreed.

"I could never regret any of it," Sarah Jane added, smiling softly at the Doctor on screen.

"None of us could," Rose stated, an added warmth weighing her words. She smiled at him, relentless affection shining through like sunlight. The Doctor looked over at her, and finally, _finally_ the devastation in his expression eased a little.

_Thank God for Rose_, Viera cheered inwardly.

"Enough," echoed the voice of the Supreme Dalek over the ship's speakers. "Engage defense zero-five."

"Transmit engaged!" another Dalek replied. Viera had just enough time feel a jolt of frustration and fear before they were all snatched from where they stood. The next thing she knew, she'd been dropped to the floor of the vault.


	13. 4:5 The DoctorDonna

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**A Very Human Time Lord: "Legendary Forces" by Epic Score**

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PART FOUR – JOURNEY'S END

Chapter Five – The DoctorDonna

Jack was helping the others up. Their little group wasn't the only one there. "Martha! I've got you. It's alright."

"Don't move!" the Doctor ordered urgently, pressing up against the force field that held him captive. "All of you! Stay still," he pleaded as Jackie, Mickey and Sarah Jane stepped forward. Viera stayed where she was, crumpled on the floor. She was terribly aware of the number of weapons pointed in their direction. It made her feel like a deer in the headlights. Viera was getting a bit tired of being three seconds away from death.

"Guard them!" Davros commanded. "On your knees, all of you. Surrender!"

"Do as he says," the Doctor instructed, trying to keep them alive. Slowly, reluctantly they obeyed, sinking to their knees. They tucked their hands behind their heads as the Daleks circled.

"Mum, I told you not to!" Rose murmured to Jackie.

"Yeah, but I couldn't leave you," her mother replied. Even in the middle of the end of _everything,_ watching that exchange was enough to make Viera ache with homesickness.

Davros wasn't paying them any mind, completely caught up in his mad plans, his victory. "The final prophesy is in place. The Doctor and his children all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek... the time has come!" he shouted, almost shaking with excitement. "Now, detonate the Reality Bomb!"

Viera whimpered as the ship began to pull in power. She shut her eyes and curled over her knees, hands pressed to her head in a vain attempt to shut it out. It was so much stronger than it had been when they were testing it. The power didn't feel tainted yet, but she knew what it was preparing for. Viera could feel it, twisting and writhing through the corridors and into the bomb. _Oh God…_

"You can't, Davros!" the Doctor shouted, desperately pleading. "Just listen to me! Just _stop_!"

Davros only laughed, his voice wild with triumph and insanity. "Nothing can stop the detonation! Nothing! And no one!"

Then Viera heard the most beautiful sound in the universe. The materialization of the TARDIS. She thought she was dreaming at first, hallucinating in a desperate attempt to stave off terror, but when she looked up it was there. Viera glanced at the others, making certain they saw it too. The Doctor was completely astounded. The others were watching with open mouths and wide eyes.

"But that's…" the Doctor couldn't even finish the sentence.

"Impossible," Davros croaked.

_Not dead,_ Viera kept thinking, shaking with relief instead of fear. _Donna's not dead. The TARDIS isn't destroyed. I didn't let them die. Donna's not dead._

The TARDIS finished materializing, bright and shining and the most gorgeous thing Viera had ever seen. The door opened…

And then the Doctor stepped out.

_Wait. What?_ Viera starred.

"Brilliant," she heard Jack murmur in the background.

_Oh, the impossible things I've seen_, Viera thought vaguely. The Doctor, the new Doctor was wearing a blue suit but otherwise he looked just the same as he ever had. _Time travel? Is this Doctor from the future? I didn't think he was supposed to do that. Then again, considering what's at stake… The end of all life aside from Daleks sounds like a pretty good reason to break the rules._

Davros rolled his chair back, fear twisting his mangled face as the Doctor in blue ran towards him, an odd device in hand. The other companions climbed to their feet; the Daleks did nothing to stop them. Viera stayed where she was, still too dizzy to try standing.

"Don't!" the captive Doctor tried to warn him, not quite soon enough. Davros pointed and a fierce blue jolt of electricity shot towards the other Doctor. It slammed into his chest, stopping him in his tracks as he dropped his device. Viera made an aborted motion to go to him, stopped by the jerk of a Dalek weapon in her direction. He was still alive, still conscious. Mostly he just looked winded, but whatever plans he'd had for the device seemed out of the picture.

"Activate holding cell," Davros grunted. A force field formed around the new Doctor as well. Before Davros could gloat, Donna came running out of the TARDIS.

_Not dead. She's not dead. Oh please be careful…_

"Doctor!" Donna exclaimed, scooping up the device. "I've got it! But I don't know what to do!" Then Davros flung out his hand and the spike of electricity threw Donna backwards.

"Don't!" Viera yelped helplessly. She winced as Donna hit a computer console and slumped to the floor. The device lay out of everyone's reach.

"Donna!" the Doctor cried. "Donna, are you alright? Donna?" She didn't answer. She was out of Viera's sight; she couldn't even see if she was breathing.

_The Doctor was fine. Donna will be fine too. Even if she's only human and he's a Time Lord. He didn't even act like it hurt really. She'll be fine,_ Viera tried to convince herself. She stared at the console as she willed Donna to get up, to say something, anything.

"Destroy the weapon!" Davros ordered. One of the Daleks shot the device and it exploded. _We need a new plan,_ Viera moaned inwardly. Her vision swam as the power in the ship continued to build; she closed her eyes in an effort to stop the world from spinning around her.

"Viera?" Jack murmured, concerned. Viera just gave a brief shake of her head.

"I was wrong about your warriors, Doctor," Davros spat. "They are pathetic."

"How comes there're two of you?" Viera heard Rose demand.

"Human biological metacrisis," one of the Doctor's responded. She couldn't tell which one with her eyes closed. They sounded the same. "Never mind that. Now we've got no way of stopping the Reality Bomb."

"Detonation in twenty rels!" the Supreme Dalek's graveled voice came over the speakers. "Nineteen…"

"Stand witness, Time Lord. Stand witness, Humans," Davros exulted. "Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and... oh - the end of the universe is come," he finished smugly. Viera gritted her teeth, pressing hard against her temples. Her stomach rolled.

"Nine… Eight... Seven..."

Viera wondered what would happen if she stopped trying so desperately to close herself off to the power rolling through the ship. Could she control it without a direct connection? It was possible she'd just explode or it'd scramble her brain and she'd just drop dead.

"Six… Five… Four…"

Really though, she was probably going to die anyways. It'd be better to die trying to stop the Daleks than cowering on the floor like she was. But when Viera looked up, wanting to see her friends before she threw herself into yet another stupidly suicidal plan, Donna was awake and standing at the console.

"Three… Two… One…"

The Bomb failed. Viera felt the power stop drawing into the ship. An alarm sounded and everyone looked around in confusion.

"Donna?" Viera asked, staggering to her feet with a wince. Jack reached out to steady her.

The red-head grinned at her. "Closing all Z-Neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop!" Donna stated confidently, flicking a switch. "That button there!"

The Doctor was just as lost as the rest of them. "Donna, you can't even change a plug," he protested.

"Do you wanna bet, time-boy?" she retorted, still grinning.

"You will suffer for this!" Davros exclaimed. Donna just tilted her head at him, unafraid. When he raised his hand to fire a jolt of electricity she flicked another switch and it turned back on him. Davros shrieked as the electricity raced up his arm.

"Ooo! Bioelectric dampening field with a retrogressive arc inversion," Donna taunted happily. The rest of them just watched with wide eyes, still dumbfounded.

"Exterminate her!" Davros demanded, frazzled.

"Exterminate!" the Daleks echoed.

Still Donna was not concerned. She fiddled with the console, flicking switches, pressing buttons, all of it with a confidence Viera had never seen in her before.

"Exterminate!" the Daleks exclaimed. There was a quiet hum of something powering down and their weapons were dead. None of them could fire.

"Weapons non-functional!" one practically yelped. Their pseudo-arms twitched ineffectually. A slow, awed smile slid across Viera's face.

"What?" Donna teased. "Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix?"

"How did you work that out?" the Doctor, the one with the brown jacket, the original questioned, complete amazement on his face as well. "You…"

"Time Lord," the other Doctor interrupted. "Part Time Lord-"

"Part human," Donna finished gleefully. "Oh yes!" She sounded a bit like him just there. "That was a two-way biological metacrisis. Half-Doctor, half-Donna!"

The original Doctor stared at her with growing realization. "The Doctor-Donna. Just like the Ood said, remember? They saw it coming! The Doctor-Donna."

Donna smiled softly and flicked a few more switches. "Holding cells deactivated." The force fields dropped. "And seal the vault. Well don't just stand there, you skinny boys in suits! Get to work!" Both Doctors came at her command, dashing across the vault. Viera leaned against Jack, smiling in happy bemusement at the sight. She hadn't understood most of what they were saying, but she'd get one or the other to explain slowly later. For the moment she was just going to enjoy the complete turn of the tide.

"Stop them!" Davros ordered desperately. "Get them away from the controls!" The Daleks moved towards them but before they could get far Donna flipped another switch.

"And… spin!" she declared. And they did. The Daleks began turning in place, helpless to stop themselves. "And… the other way!" Donna ordered, messing with more buttons and dial. The Daleks changed direction, spinning the other way. Some of them ended up with their upper halves and their lower halves facing in different directions.

"Help me," one of the Daleks bleated. "Help me." Jack chuckled at the sight and the others grinned in disbelieving amusement.

"What did you do?" the Doctor in blue asked.

"Trip-stitch circuit-breaker in the psycho-kinetic threshold manipulator," Donna explained.

_And in English?_ Viera thought, but the Doctors understood her immediately.

"But that's brilliant!" the one in blue exclaimed.

"Why did we never think of that?" the other questioned.

Donna was only too happy to explain. She spoke in high-speeds Viera had only ever heard from the Doctor before. "Because you two... were just Time Lords! You dumbos," she teased. "Lacking that little bit of Human, that gut instinct that goes hand-in-hand with planet Earth. I could think of ideas that you two couldn't dream of in a million years! Ah, the universe has been waiting for me! Now... let's send that trip-stitch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you," Donna paused to gesture towards herself, obviously enjoying herself immensely, "best temp in Chiswick?" She wiggled her fingers. "A hundred words per minute!"

"Ha!" the Doctor in blue laughed, grinning widely.

Echoes of Daleks screeching in protest as their programing was messed with echoed through the halls. While the three geniuses were working, Jack slipped into the TARDIS. He reemerged moments later with the two massive guns.

"Mickey!" he called, tossing one to him.

"You will desist!" Davros demanded to no effect. Mickey leveled the gun at his head.

"Just stay where you are, mister."

"Out of the way!" Jack ordered, shoving a Dalek with his foot. It went spinning down a corridor helplessly. Rose and Sarah Jane followed suit, pushing a Dalek together to get it out of the way. Martha, Jackie and Viera helped clear away the rest, grinning at each other.

"Good to see you again!" Sarah Jane told Rose.

"Yeah, you too!" Rose replied.

Viera ended up next to Martha, pushing one of the armored aliens together. "Martha Jones," she introduced herself over the sound of the Daleks' protests.

"Viera Mier," she replied. In the background they could hear the Doctors and Donna talking to each other about sending the planets home. "Did _you_ understand what happened?" Viera couldn't help but ask. Martha shrugged and grinned.

"Something brilliant! But otherwise, no, not really."

When the Daleks were out of the way, they began to gather around the console where the geniuses were working.

"We need more power," the Doctor muttered.

"Is anyone gonna tell us what's going on?" Rose asked, tired of being confused.

Donna explained, gesturing to the original Doctor then the one in blue. "He poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand, I touched the hand, he grew out of that, but that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head 'til the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life," she babbled. "Thank you, Davros! Part human, part Time Lord, and I got the best bit of the Doctor." The Doctor in blue raised his eyebrows at that. Donna leaned forward conspiratorially. "I got his mind."

"How much like the Doctor are you?" Viera asked the one in blue curiously.

"I _am_ the Doctor. Same memories, same mind," he answered. Then he shrugged one shoulder, hedging a bit. "A few changes, but still the Doctor."

"So there's _three_ of you?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Three Doctors?" Rose asked, sounding dazed.

Jack's gaze turned a bit distant. "I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now." Viera shook her head.

The Doctor was focused on Donna. "You're so unique that the timelines were converging on you. Human Being with a Time Lord brain."

"But you promised me, Dalek Caan," Davros lamented. "Why did you not foresee this?"

The mad little creature giggled.

"Oh, I think he did," the Doctor stated quietly. "Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages, getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time."

"This would always have happened. I only helped, Doctor," Dalek Caan interjected almost humbly.

Davros was stunned. "You… betrayed the Daleks?"

"I _saw_ the Daleks," Caan disagreed. "What we have done throughout time and space. I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed 'no more'." Viera felt a surge of something very close to affection for the for the odd, pale creature.

"Heads up!" Jack cried, interrupting the conversation. The Supreme Dalek dropped into the vault.

"Davros, you have betrayed us," it rumbled.

"It was Dalek Caan!" Davros protested, but the Dalek wasn't listening.

"The vault will be purged!" the Supreme declared. "You will all be exterminated!" It shot the central column and sparks flew as they all flinched away. Jack turned his gun on the huge Dalek.

"You first!" he barked, firing. The Supreme Dalek was blasted into pieces.

"Oh, we've lost the magnetron," the Doctor observed, taking in the damage done to the column. Then he turned to the screen. "And there's only one planet left." He laughed. "Guess which one."

"Earth?" Viera guessed wryly. Of course it was Earth. What else would it be.

The Doctor shot her a grin. "We can use the TARDIS," he assured. He left the console and slipped inside the ship. Viera glanced at the others then followed. She wasn't going to be much help in either place, but the TARDIS was currently less crowded. The moment she stepped inside the TARDIS' song hummed through her veins, soothing frayed nerves and washing away the lingering sickness she felt from the Crucible. Viera soaked it in with a faint murmur of thanks. She stayed out of the Doctor's way, running a hand along the console opposite him to feel the TARDIS hum beneath her hand. The adrenaline began to seep away, leaving her feeling languid and tired.

Then chaos broke loose outside. The sound of explosion and Dalek shrieks came in through the door. The Doctor looked up in alarm, meet Viera's wide eyes for just a moment before he bolted to the door. Viera followed but didn't leave the TARDIS.

The Daleks were dying, their armored bodies exploding one by one. The new Doctor stood watching with wild eyes. The fierce look on his face sent a shiver down Viera's spine.

"What have you done?" the Doctor demanded.

His new counterpart was grim, unmoved. "Fulfilling the prophesy." There were more explosions deeper in the Crucible and the whole ship shook. Viera grabbed for the doorframe to stay upright.

"Do you know what you've done?" the Doctor berated his look-alike. He was _furious_, something close to disgust buried beneath the rage. "Now get in the TARDIS," he gritted out.

The other Doctor obeyed, meeting Viera's gaze just a moment as he passed her. To be completely honest she wasn't so sure she disagreed with his decision to end the Daleks, genocide or not. At least in theory. Actually seeing them die, hearing them shriek made her feel cold inside… but how much worse would things have gotten if he'd let them live. Nevertheless, she didn't dare say so. Viera couldn't bear to have the Doctor, the Time Lord Doctor give her that same look of anger, shock, and disgust he'd leveled at his other-self. She let the new Doctor pass without a word.

"Everyone! All of you inside! Run!" the Doctor outside ordered. "In, in, in, in, in!" The other companions rushed in. Viera got out of the way while the new Doctor ushered them in.

"Sarah Jane! Rose! Jackie! Jack! Mickey!" the Doctor in blue greeted them all, making sure that no one got left behind. Then only the other Doctor was left in the dying Crucible. Viera watched the door worriedly. It wasn't until he raced back inside that she felt like she could breathe again. She was still staying out of the way, leaning against the railing as everyone crowded around the console. The TARDIS door shut and the Doctor joined the crowd, pulling one of the levers.

"And off we go!" he declared. The ship shuddered and they all grabbed for whatever they were near in an effort to keep their feet. There was the sound of a massive explosion outside as the Crucible was destroyed completely.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not a lot of change in this one, I know. I thought about taking this part of the story in a different direction but ended up deciding I needed things to go this way in order for certain things to work later on.

There's an alternate version of this part posted as "Diversion", if you're interested.


	14. 4:6 One Companion Will Die

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Bad Wolf Bay: "Prelude" by Judgement Day**

**

* * *

**

PART FOUR – JOURNEY'S END

Chapter Six – One Companion Will Die

"But what about Earth?" Sarah Jane asked. "It's stuck in the wrong part of space!"

"I'm on it," the Doctor assured. Viera edged around the group so she could see the monitor as he turned it on. Rose stood shoulder to shoulder with the Doctor, peering in as well. "Torchwood Hub, this is the Doctor. Are you receiving me?"

"Loud and clear," a dark-haired woman responded confidently. A man wearing a vest and tie came to stand behind her. "Is Jack there?"

The Doctor glanced over at the Captain. "Can get rid of him," he teased dryly. His gaze narrowed at the screen. "Jack, what's her name?"

"Gwen Cooper," Captain Harkness replied. There was pride in his voice, in his eye as he grinned.

"And him?" Viera asked, watching his expression shift minutely at the thought of the other man.

"Ianto Jones."

The Doctor was still focused on Gwen. "Tell me Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?"

Gwen shared a puzzled glance with Ianto but answered gamely. "Yes. All the way back to the eighteen-hundreds."

The Doctor and Rose seemed delighted by that, though Viera couldn't understand why. Inside joke, she supposed. Perhaps she'd remember to ask later.

"Mm, thought so!" The Doctor turned to Rose, sharing a grin and a warm look born of fond memories. "Spatial genetic multiplicity."

"Oh yeah," Rose agreed.

"Yeah, yeah, it's a funny old world," he murmured. The he refocused abruptly, leaving the rest of them struggling to catch up. "Now, Torchwood, I want you to open up that Rift manipulator. Send all the power to me."

"Doing it now, sir," Ianto stated solemnly.

Martha was tired of sitting back silently. "What's that for?" she asked.

"It's a tow-rope," the Doctor replied. His attention shifted and he raised an arm to beckon his former companion. "Now then, Sarah. What was your son's name?"

"Luke, he's called Luke. And the computer's called Mr. Smith," she replied, smiling hopefully.

"Calling Luke and Mr Smith!" the Doctor hollered over the connection. "This is the Doctor! Come on, Luke, shake a leg!"

The teenager who'd been sitting a ways from the screen looking downcast and worried, stood and rushed to the screen. "Is Mum there?" he asked immediately.

"Oh, she's fine and dandy," the Doctor answered happily.

"Yes! Yes!" Sarah shouted in the background, overjoyed to be in contact with her son again.

The Doctor was talking over her. "Now, Mr. Smith, I want you to harness the Rift power and loop it round the TARDIS, you got that?"

"I regret I will need remote access to TARDIS basecode numerals," the smooth, cultured computer voice replied.

"Oh, blimey," the Doctor groaned, making a face at the screen. "That's gonna take a while."

"No, no, no. Let me!" Sarah shook her head and raced over to the monitor. Viera moved aside to get out of her way. The Doctor and Rose separated to let her through. "K-9, out you come!" she called.

On screen a boxy, metal dog materialized in a beam of light. "Affirmative, Mistress!" K-9 declared.

"Oh, good dog!" the Doctor praised with a delighted laugh. "K-9, give Mr Smith the basecode!"

"Master. TARDIS basecode now being transferred," the little robot stated. "The process is simple."

"Now then, you lot…" The Doctor turned back to his companions, pulling Sarah back to where she'd been standing before, between the other Doctor and Mickey. "Sarah, hold that. And Mickey, you hold that," he directed, giving each of them a button or lever or dial to handle in-between explaining. All except Donna and the new Doctor, whom he left to their own devices. "Because, you know why this TARDIS is always rattling about the place? Rose, that, there." He snatched Viera's hand on the way and pulled her up to the console next to Martha. "Don't let go of that. It was designed to have six pilots and I have to do it single handed. Martha, keep that level. But not anymore! Jack, there you go, steady that. Now we can fly this thing-" He pulled up short as he reached Rose's mother.

"No, Jackie. No, no. Not you. Don't touch anything, just... stand back," he ordered, patting her on the shoulder. Jackie nodded though she looked like she was just barely keeping from rolling her eyes.

"Like it's meant to be flown!" the Doctor finished. "We've got the Torchwood Rift looped around the TARDIS by Mr Smith. We're gonna fly planet Earth back home." With those warm words he raced back around the console to the empty spot he'd left, ready to pilot the ship and tow the whole planet back where it belonged. The TARDIS hummed happily around them, its song literally vibrating with contentment; Viera wondered if it missed the presence the companions it eventually had to leave behind. She wondered how deeply the Doctor and his ship felt the absence of the other pilots when they flew alone.

For today, at least, the control room was as full as it should be.

"Right, then!" the Doctor declared, reaching for a lever with the same almost awed contentment in his voice. "Off we go."

The ship took off without the usual jolts and shudders. For once the Doctor didn't have to race around the console pressing every button, pulling every lever himself. He simply pointed or waved and the companions all did their parts. They shared grins as they worked, reveling in being a part of something bigger, in having a place at the TARDIS console.

They were amazing, all of them. To be perfectly honest, Viera was rather intimidated. The other companions were all very clever, brave, spirited and strong-willed. Viera didn't really fit that mold. In their presence she wondered for the first time whether it bothered the Doctor, her habit of following him around like a lost puppy. She could be a little needy and she knew it. He'd never mentioned it, of course, or acted like he minded, but seeing his previous companions…

It was silly thing to dwell on in the midst of relief and triumph. The Doctor shot her a grin as he motioned for her to move her hand, and Viera shoved the self-doubt away to smile back.

Donna and the new Doctor wandered around the console, keeping an eye on everyone. The TARDIS flew more smoothly than Viera had ever seen, despite the great weight of the planet towed behind it.

Then they were back in the Milky Way. They dropped the Earth right back into its proper orbit and released the Rift's energy they'd been using to hold on. A great cheer went up inside the TARDIS, relief and triumph coursing through them all.

"Yes!" Mickey applauded. Jackie and Sarah Jane gave a happy laugh.

"We did it!" Donna exclaimed, pulling Viera into a great hug.

"Thank God," she murmured, hardly able to believe it was finally over.

"Oh, yes," both Doctors said at once, gleefully. Rose, standing between them, looked back and forth with bemused affection on her face.

"Home sweet home," Jack added. He looked up and shared grin with Martha before going over to hug her as well. Then everyone was hugging, laughing and giddy with joy. The Doctor, both Doctors were accosted by all his, their companions. Donna finally got her hug with Jack, though she interrupted Sarah's hug to get it. Rose and her mother finally got a chance to properly greet each other, each checking that the other was safe and whole.

Rose… Viera's expression grew puzzled, familiarity itching at the back of her mind again. She had to have seen her somewhere before…

"Midnight," she muttered aloud, realization stealing across her face.

"Pardon?" Rose asked as she turned towards her. They had several of the others' interest as well.

Viera felt her cheeks warm at the sudden attention. "Sorry, I just realized where I'd seen you before." She glanced at the Doctors, speaking to one then the other. It was very disconcerting to have two of them there. "When we were in that shuttle, right after… right after the cockpit got torn away," Viera turned back to Rose. "I saw you. On one of the video screens. You were mouthing something… Doctor, I think… but we couldn't hear and then you were gone. I'd forgotten 'till now." Things had gotten rather… distracting after that anyways.

"The walls between our worlds were breaking down," Rose explained. "I was trying to reach the Doctor, but I kept just missing him." The blond turned to the nearest Doctor with a wry smile. "It was very frustrating."

"I saw you too!" Donna chimed in as she remembered. "Right before I left with the Doctor. I told you to tell my mum where the car keys were!"

"I was just around the corner," the Doctor, one of the Doctors murmured, stunned and distressed at having missed Rose then.

"Found you though, didn't I?" Rose reminded him, grinning until he grinned back at her. Viera's gaze shifted to the other Doctor who was watching them with an unreadable expression.

_They both love her_, she realized, stunned that she hadn't considered that before. _If one of them gets Rose, what happens to the other? I don't suppose we can just clone Rose, can we?_

"I suppose we'd best start getting you home," the Doctor stated, pulling them from their musings. Most of them still grinning, the companions returned to their places to help pilot the TARDIS together one last time. The familiar sound of the TARDIS dematerializing filled the console room, provoking fond, nostalgic smiles on more than one face.

They landed gently with everyone's help.

"Here we are, Sarah," the original Doctor stated cheerfully.

Sarah Jane was eager to go home, but she shook a few more hands and took the time to wrap the meta-crisis-born Doctor in a great hug. "Take care of yourself," Viera heard her murmur.

The blue-suited Doctor hugged her with enough enthusiasm to pick her up off the ground. She laughed and they parted with a grin. The other Doctor stepped outside with her, leaving the rest of them milling around the console room.

Donna & Martha called home to let their families know they were alright. Viera tried not to wonder how her own family might be handling the situation. It made her chest ache. She watched Jackie and Mickey share a long hug on the other side of the room. Rose was with the Doctor dressed in blue, catching up. She seemed perfectly comfortable with him. The Doctor… the Doctor seemed rather enamored. It worried Viera.

"They'll figure something out," Jack startled her. She hadn't noticed him walk up. Jack gave her a smile when she looked up, but Viera didn't feel terribly comforted.

"One of him is going to get hurt," she stated quietly. She couldn't see any way around that. "Even if he's got a plan… He'll do what he thinks is best for Rose even if it breaks his hearts."

Jack sighed, unable to disagree. "Yeah."

The Doctor returned then, and the conversations around the room were halted as they returned to the controls. The other Doctor covered the spot where Sarah Jane had been working. It was an especially quick trip.

"Anyone for Cardiff?" the Doctor asked. Martha turned to give one last hug to the Doctor in blue. Jack grinned and turned to say his own goodbyes. He pulled Viera into a quick hug and gave her a wink.

"Be seeing you around," he promised. He turned to Donna, arms open for another hug. Donna apparently thought that wasn't good enough. She grabbed the lapels of his coat and yanked him forward into a kiss.

The startled look on Jack's face was priceless, but it quickly melted into enjoyment as he kissed her back thoroughly. Viera grinned but looked away, entertained further by the identical looks of mixed amusement and alarm on the Doctor's expressions.

Donna and Jack finally broke apart to catch their breaths, both looking a little smug.

"Right then," Donna stated, patting his shoulder. "Sure you won't stay?"

Jack grinned but shook his head. "I've got Torchwood to get back to. And Ianto," he added in case Donna was considering that to be anything more than just a goodbye kiss. She shrugged easily and smiled.

"Figures, I suppose. Off with you then," Donna stated, making shooing motions with her hands.

Jack turned to Rose, pulling her into a big hug and spinning her around until they were both laughing joyfully. He held on to her even once he'd put her down.

"Take care of yourself, Rose. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She shook her head with a laugh and pulled him into another hug. He whispered something into her ear that Viera couldn't hear. Rose's smile was softer when he finally let her go.

Jack hugged the blue-suited Doctor and Martha shook everyone's hands, then they left the TARDIS with the other Doctor. Mickey turned to Rose and gave her a big hug, startling her a bit.

"This is my stop too, I think," he stated. "With Gran gone and everything… I belong back here. Maybe I'll take a look at this dimension's Torchwood, yeah?"

"I'll miss you," Rose murmured tearfully, hugging him tight. Mickey let her go with a faint smile, nodded to the other Doctor, waved to the rest of them and darted outside. The console room was a little bit quieter, a little bit emptier.

_That didn't last long_, Viera mused, running a hand over the edge of the console. It was incredible meeting so many of the Doctor's friends, but goodbyes were hard and the Doctor was going to have to say a lot of them in a short amount of time. _Not me and not Donna,_ Viera thought. _But what is going to do about Rose?_

He returned then, jogging up the ramp. "It's time for one last trip," the Doctor sighed, taking a moment to pat Jackie's arm as he walked around the console. He took a deep breath as he flicked a few switches, and Viera watched him share a shuttered look with the other Doctor. "Dårlig Ulv Stranden. Better known as… Bad Wolf Bay."

They took off again, all of them taking up a few more of the controls to cover for those who'd already left. The trip was a bit less smooth and a bit longer. The TARDIS' song sounded almost… reluctant to Viera. She glanced at the Doctor, but he was deliberately focused on watching the controls and she couldn't read his expression. _Oh no, what are you planning?_ The other Doctor's expression wasn't quite so controlled. There was nervousness there, guilt, maybe hope. Viera bit her lip and tried to pay attention to which dials she was supposed to be turning.

They landed with a bit of a jolt. Jackie left TARDIS first, Rose and Doctor in blue trailing behind her. The other Doctor followed. Donna and Viera shared a look before leaving as well. It seemed like maybe it should be a private goodbye, but they wanted to know what happened. Besides, Viera rather thought that at least one of the Doctors was going to need their support. They listened to Jackie ramble as the others walked a bit further out onto the beach.

"Hold on," Rose murmured, frowning as she looked around. "This is the parallel universe, right?"

"You're back home," stated the original Doctor, wandering closer with Donna by his side. Viera stayed back, just listening and watching. A heavy feeling settled in her heart, and she prayed silently that this wouldn't hurt him as much as she thought it was going to.

"And the walls of the world are closing again... now that the Reality Bomb never happened. It's dimension retroclosure," Donna explained. "See, I really get that stuff now."

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully.

Rose was not impressed. "No, but… I spent all that time trying to find you, I'm not going back now!" she protested.

"But you've got to," the Doctor stated grimly. He stepped closer and Donna stayed behind, out of the way. "Because we saved the universe, but at a cost. And the cost is him." The Doctor nodded to his clone in blue. "He destroyed the Daleks. He committed genocide. He's too dangerous to be left on his own."

_Do you really believe that?_ Viera wondered, still thinking that she might have done the same to the Daleks. _Or is that an excuse? A reason to do what you see as the best thing for her? For them? For everyone except yourself?_

"You made me!" the other Doctor objected.

"Exactly," the first agreed. "You were born in battle, full of blood and anger and revenge." He turned to Rose. "Remind you of someone?" he asked softly. Rose's expression was torn, pain and denial keeping her quiet. She looked away, eyes full of tears when she finally looked back. "That's me. When we first met. And you made me better. And now you can do the same for him."

"But he's not you," Rose countered, beginning to cry.

"He needs you," the Doctor insisted. "That's very me."

It was heartbreaking, hearing the love in the Doctor's words even as he gave it up. His voice was steady, but it had to be killing him. Viera couldn't see his expression, but she could see the way his shoulders were braced, his hands shoved into his pockets to keep them from reaching for Rose. She could see the mix of nervousness and hope and _guilt_ on his double's face and it made a great deal more sense. He'd known, or at least guessed at what the Doctor was planning to do.

"But it's better than that, though," Donna broke in. "Don't you see what he's trying to give you?" she asked Rose before turning to the Doctor in blue. "Tell her. Go on."

Rose turned around. The other Doctor took a deep breath, ever so aware of how much rested on Rose's reaction. "I look like him and I think like him... same memories, same thoughts, same everything. Except, I've only got one heart."

"Which means?" Rose asked, confused.

"I'm part Human. Specifically the aging part. I'll grow old and never regenerate. I've only got one life... Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you. If you want," he added, trying to shrug as though he didn't have absolutely everything riding on her reply.

Rose sounded staggered. "You'll grow… grow old at the same time as me?"

"Together," the part-human Doctor promised. Rose stepped closer, cautiously putting a hand to his chest.

Viera watched with mixed feelings, happiness for them tangling with sympathy for the pain the other Doctor must be feeling. Then the TARDIS whirred, warning echoing faintly in its song. The others turned automatically to look at it.

"We've gotta go," the purely Time Lord Doctor stated quietly. "This reality's sealing itself off." Tears rolled down Rose's cheek, but his voice didn't falter. "Forever." He and Donna turned and started back towards the TARDIS. Viera bit her lip as she watched Rose jog after them. Her gave slid to the Doctor in blue, who was watching silently as well, leaving everything up to Rose. She wondered if they both felt jealous of themselves.

"But it's still not right," Rose protested. The Doctor turned back around. "Because… the Doctor's… still you."

"And I'm him," the Time Lord stated, nodding towards the other Doctor.

"Alright. Both of you, answer me this," Rose demanded. Both Doctors moved closer, one standing on each side of her, obedient to her beck and call. "When I last stood on this beach on the worst day of my life... what was the last thing you said to me?" She looked at the Time Lord imploringly. He rocked back, shifting his weight just slightly like he was fighting the urge to turn away, to run. He didn't want to do this. "Go on. Say it."

"I said, 'Rose Tyler'," the Doctor answered heavily.

"Yeah, and how was that sentence going to end?" Rose pushed quietly.

He couldn't give her the answer she wanted, the answer _he wanted_ to give. He'd already chosen his path, decided what was best. Prolonging it just caused more agony. "Does it need saying?" he asked painfully. Rose just looked at him a moment before turning to the other.

"And you, Doctor? What was the end of that sentence?"

The part-human eased forward, very gently taking Roses arm as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. He didn't hesitate laying his heart on the line. The other Doctor had to watch as he said the words that sealed all their fates, as he declared the love the other could not voice.

Then Rose pulled him close and kissed him for all she was worth. The Time Lord watched only a moment as the two of them were wrapped up in each other. Then he turned away and walked back to the TARDIS.

Viera and Donna slipped inside behind him, neither saying anything right away. Then they left, only three of them piloting the TARDIS. Viera fought back the urge to wrap the Doctor in a hug, believing he needed his space, and that he needed distraction more than sympathy right then.

Donna's thoughts followed the same path. "I thought we could try the planet Felspoon... just 'cos. What a good name, 'Felspoon'. Apparently it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine?" she rambled, fiddling with controls as she wandered around the console. The quiet devastation in the Doctor's expression shifted but didn't ease as he watched her. Viera felt foreboding shiver up her spine.

"And how do you know that?" the Doctor asked very quietly.

"Because it's in your head!" Donna answered smugly. "And if it's in your head, it's in mine."

"And how does that feel?"

He sounded grim and it was beginning to scare Viera. "Doctor?" she asked. He shook his head and held up a hand for her to be silent.

"Brilliant! Fantastic! Molto bene!" Donna answered giddily. "Great bit of universe packed into my brain. You know you could fix that chameleon circuit if you just try and hotbind in the fragment links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary-" She got stuck, like a scratched record, just repeating. Donna took a gasping breath that broke her loose and turned frantically back to the console. "I'm fine," she declared abruptly.

The Doctor straightened, watching her with great sadness in his eyes. Viera saw then that it wasn't just for Rose, that he knew exactly what was going on with Donna.

And he wasn't trying to fix it.

_No. No, no, no, no, no…_ Viera watched with wide eyes, pressing a hand to her mouth to keep quiet. _He looks… resigned. What's going on? He can't… Whatever's wrong, there has to be some way to fix it. There can't… Donna has to be okay. She just… She just saved everyone. We won. She has to be okay._

"Nah, never-mind Felspoon. You know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin. I've heard he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin?" Donna was talking fast, fear instead of excitement coiling beneath the words. She picked up the phone on the console and talked into it, trying to play everything off as alright. "Shall we? Charlie Chaplin? Charlie Chester, Charlie Brown. No, he's fiction, friction, fiction, fixen, mixen, rixten, brixton-" Donna got stuck again and broke off with a gasp that left her panting as she leaned against the console. Viera took a step closer but stopped as the Doctor shook his head and motioned her aside. He stood next to Donna, expression grim.

"Oh my God," Donna breathed, pressing a hand to her head.

"Do you know what's happening?" the Doctor asked. There was no comfort in his voice, no hope.

Donna straightened with a faint nod, resignation slipping into her own expression. "Yeah." Viera felt cold.

"There's never been a Human-Time Lord metacrisis before now. And you know why."

"Because there can't be," Donna replied, her eyes filling with tears. She looked away, fiddling with controls on the console.

"What's going on?" Viera asked, begging for an explanation, for reassurance.

No one could give it.

"I want to stay," Donna whimpered.

"Look at me," the Doctor ordered quietly. "Donna, look at me."

She did finally, reluctantly. He looked so sad. A bit of defiance tilted her chin upwards. She was shaking. "I was gonna be with you… forever," Donna told the Doctor.

_Why does she sound like she's saying goodbye?_

"I know," the Doctor whispered.

"The rest of my life… travelling in the TARDIS. The Doctor-Donna," she mused.

"What is going _on_?" Viera asked again. Their gazes shifted to her, but no one answered. Donna was caught up in her own realization.

"No. Oh my God," Donna whimpered. She turned back to the Doctor, shaking her head and pleading tearfully. He stepped forward and gently grasped her shoulders.

"Doctor, what are you doing?" Viera questioned, stepping closer.

"Stay there, Viera," he ordered, firmly enough to halt her in her tracks. She watched in horror as Donna begged.

"I can't go back. Don't make me go back. Doctor... please. Please, don't make me go back."

"Donna. Oh, Donna Noble. I am so, so sorry," he murmured, pained and grieving already. Donna was crying, gasping quiet sobs. "But we had the best of times. The best."

"Goodbye," he whispered. He reached for Donna's head even as she shook it.

"What are you doing? Doctor! Stop!" Viera begged to no avail.

"No. No, please!" Donna gasped. "Please! No, NO!" But the Doctor pressed his fingers firmly against her temples and closed his eyes. "NO!" she pleaded one last time, then Donna closed her eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.

"What have you done?" Viera demanded fearfully as the Doctor caught their fallen friend. "What have you done?"

He looked up at her, cradling Donna carefully. "I had to. It was killing her, all that knowledge in her head." The Doctor's gaze fell on Donna again. He took a deep breath before laying her down gently and heading for the console.

"But what did you _do_?" Viera asked. She knelt next to the red-head, tears stinging her own eyes as she wiped the traces from her unconscious friend's cheeks. Donna had been so _terrified_.

"I had to wipe her mind, completely," the Doctor finally explained. His grim voice was mostly steady as he set the ship on a new course, resigned or just beginning to numb from the pain, she couldn't be sure. "Every trace of me or you or the TARDIS... all of it had to go."

"What?" Viera gasped, horror echoing through her voice. _No, no, no…_ "No. _No._ We can… There has to be some way to fix that. Some way to make her remember…"

"No!" the Doctor ordered, hands clenching tightly on the edge of the console. He looked over at her sternly. "She can never remember. _Not ever_."

Viera stood, panic and grief and _pain_ raising her voice into a desperate demand. "You can't! _You can't!_ There _has_ to be some other way! In the whole universe, the whole scope of time, _someone_ has to know how to fix this!" Viera shouted, suddenly angry.

"Don't you think I'd try?" the Doctor snapped. "If there were any other way, don't you think I'd have tried that first?"

Viera blinked back tears, jaw set stubbornly. "You don't know everything."

"If she remembers, she dies. Simple as that. There's no fixing it. There's no loophole. I _had_ to make her forget, or she'd have died," he ground out.

"That's not your choice to make." Even as she gasped the words, Viera knew it was a stupid thing to say. She knew how much the Doctor treasured life, especially the lives of his companions. Hell, she treasured life as well, but Viera wanted Donna back, and she couldn't help but put herself in Donna's shoes. She couldn't bear the thought of forgetting. At that moment, if it had been her, she'd rather die.

The Doctor's expression closed down at her words. The TARDIS landing spared them from further conversation.

"Stay here," he ordered when she took a step towards the door. "I need to talk to her family alone." The Doctor hefted Donna into his arms and walked out into the pouring rain. Even the sky was mourning the loss of the Doctor's companion. Because she was gone, as good as dead. Donna Noble might be alive, but the Donna Viera knew, that brilliant, brave, extraordinary woman was gone _forever_. She'd saved them all and just been… erased.

The door closed behind the Doctor. With no one left to hide her tears from, Viera sank to the ground, gasping around the sobs wrenched from her throat as she finally let herself cry.

* * *

IF THIS IS NOT THE ENDING YOU WERE LOOKING FOR, there is an alternate version posted as a separate story called "Diversion".


	15. 4:7 Aftermath

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Then There Were Two: "Tribal Ceremony" by Kerry Muzzey**

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**

PART FOUR – JOURNEY'S END

Chapter Seven – Aftermath

Her tears had run themselves dry by the time the ship's door opened again. She was leaning against the railing, turning a tiny silver key over and over in her hand. Viera had borrowed the TARDIS key from Donna when the Doctor had been dying; she'd never gotten the chance to give it back.

He didn't look at her as he came in, heading straight for the TARDIS controls. Anger, frustration, pain and fear bubbled up in Viera. She felt choked by the words she wanted to say: pleas that he swear to never do the same to her, declarations that she'd rather die than loose her memories. She wanted to rant and yell and demand that he _fix_ things.

But Viera couldn't. She'd never seen him so despondent. He was soaked, his usually wild hair subdued and dripping. The Doctor didn't even seem to notice. The set of his shoulders & his carefully controlled expression spoke his emotional exhaustion as clearly as open despair would have on anyone else. As Viera watched him move around the console alone her anger drained away, leaving only sorrow and deep, aching empathy in its wake.

Straightening, she moved to the controls, covering one of the buttons with her hand before he could press it. He stilled.

"You're soaked," she pointed out. "Shouldn't you go change before taking us on another crazy adventure?" The Doctor glanced at her almost warily, and Viera offered a faint little smile, hoping it didn't look as brittle as it felt. "I'd hate to have to deal with a Time Lord with a head cold. I bet you're a big baby when you're sick."

He blinked at the non sequitur then smiled back slowly, just a little of the light returning to his eyes with the relief that she wasn't going to fight with him just then. "I'll have you know, my immune system is made of much sterner stuff than that."

"Yes, well with our luck it'd turn into some sort of nano-virus or ancient disease from the beginning of the universe and we'd have to go running all over the galaxy to find a cure."

He couldn't say much to that. It did sound like them. "Maybe I should go change," the Doctor stated.

Viera's smile grew. "You do that." It faded once he'd gone back to the wardrobe; she looked down again at the key clutched in her hand. She could hear the TARDIS' soothing hum, but the room seemed so quiet. Half an hour ago it had been completely full of grinning faces, shining companions. One by one they'd gone…

Then there was only the two of them left.

* * *

It was some time later, after Viera had buried the pain of Donna's absence as deep as she could manage that she brought up something else that was bothering her.

"You were listening to him. Davros," she clarified, since it had pretty much come out of the blue. "You looked… ashamed… of us." Viera barely glanced up from where she was curled on the bench, not entirely sure she wanted an answer. She had to ask anyways. "Were you?"

He gave her a long look that she couldn't read, then slowly shook his head. "Not ashamed of you. I know you were only trying to help." The Doctor hesitated. "Ashamed of what I've done to you maybe."

"Done to us," she repeated with a sigh. That would have sounded terribly arrogant if Viera hadn't been aware of exactly how much he did influence them. "Look… I know mercy's important. I believe in second chances and redemption and the sanctity of life… but I also believe that sometimes defending the people you love or innocents requires taking life," Viera said carefully. She knew some part of the Doctor understood that. He'd made the hard decisions before. She still couldn't read his expression one way or another. "But you know, whether that's right or wrong, we are still human: fallible and limited and often violent when we're backed into a corner." She still didn't think they'd done anything wrong, but that wasn't quite the point at the moment. "All you've ever 'done to us' is make us want to be better."

"Even when it means dying?" the Doctor questioned dryly, shifting the subject to other wounds Davros had aggravated. He already knew the answer and that's what bothered him.

"Even then," Viera agreed. She shook her head at his grim expression. "Everyone dies sooner or later. There are worse ways to go than saving the world. And it's not like you wouldn't, haven't done the same." It was fairly inevitable. He lived a dangerous life, butting heads with evil as much as he did. When he brought out the best in people, invariably that sometimes meant sacrifice.

"It's worth it," she insisted when he didn't reply. "Speaking from personal experience here. Anyways, it's not about how long you live. It's about how well you live. And oh, Doctor, _how we live_ when we're with you."

He met her gaze at that and finally smiled.

Viera bit her lip and held up the key she'd been fingering for a long time. It dangled on its delicate chain, flashing tauntingly in the light. She watched the Doctor's expression as he realized what it was, waiting to see if he'd take it back. For all that the TARDIS felt like home to her, Viera wasn't entirely sure of her place there. She'd never leave by choice, but it seemed like sooner or later all of the Doctor's companions left or were left behind.

He looked pained at the reminder of Donna, but the Doctor shook his head. "Keep it," he stated solemnly. "Think you've earned it after this."

It found a permanent place around her neck, dangling above the Obetovat Stone hidden beneath her shirt.

And the pair of them travelled on.


	16. 5:1 Snow & Surprises

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Wonder & Snowflakes: "Miss Olive Rosemary Loaf" by Kerry Muzzey**

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PART FIVE – THE NEXT DOCTOR

Chapter One – Snow & Surprises

It was odd travelling in the TARDIS with just the Doctor. Quieter. It was still incredible and Viera was almost more comfortable with just the two of them, but she missed Donna terribly.

A lot of her spare time Viera spent researching the Vodivost and the Obetovat Stone. The legends talked of sacrifice and consequences and soul-baring. It gave Viera a fairly good theoretical idea of how to use the pendant, should she ever be desperate enough to try. The shards held the life-force or soul in the body for something near forty-eight hours. As long as the pendant holder got to them before that time ran out, the body could be healed and the spirit held by the shard reawakened, given enough power. That was the real problem, power. She didn't have nearly enough, no living species did. It was possible, however, very faintly possible thanks to the Bolest that she might be able to channel enough power from elsewhere to make it would. There was even an infinitesimal chance she might manage it and survive.

Of course, it was far more likely she'd die trying and not manage to do anything except make the pendant melt down, so she wouldn't be trying it any time soon. She'd have to be pretty desperate to even consider messing around with life and death in the first place. Still, it was nice to have the option. There were a handful of people Viera could imagine risking everything to bring back or keep from dying.

It was unfortunate that she couldn't have figured out a way to use that to save Donna's memories.

The TARDIS was drifting in the time stream, parked in the emptiness while they rested between adventures. Viera was leaning against the railing, cradling a mug of hot chocolate while she watched the Doctor adjust some of the controls in preparation for their next trip.

"You know," Viera mused aloud. "I don't know anything about you." The Doctor turned with raised eyebrows and she tried to explain what she meant. "I mean I know _you_, but I don't really know anything _about_ you. You know?" _That made more sense in my head_.

The Doctor seemed to follow her reasoning anyways. "What do you want to know?" He asked it easily enough, but his cheerful expression had become just a little more guarded.

"It's not important, really," Viera stated in case he didn't want to answer. "I was just curious." It _didn't_ matter. He was the Doctor, her Doctor, and if that's all he ever wanted to tell her, that was enough. The past was past. It just felt a bit odd to know next to nothing about his people or where he'd come from or even what made him different from human beings.

"Go ahead then," he prompted, leaning back against the console to give her his full attention.

"How old are you?" was the first question that came to mind. The Doctor grinned at that, anticipating her reaction.

"904."

Viera blinked then narrowed her eyes at him. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he insisted. It was a bit hard to tell when he was grinning like that, but Viera thought he might be telling the truth.

"Huh. Alright." That was… a very long time, but she'd known he aged differently when he mentioned being a kid at ninety. "Do you just age really slowly then? Is that the biggest difference between you and humans?"

"Not exactly. Whenever I'm near death I regenerate."

"Like you did when the Dalek shot you?" Viera asked, nearly flinching at getting too close to the subject of Rose, something she avoided almost religiously.

"Not quite," the Doctor answered. "I don't usually have a handy spare hand to redirect the power into," he trailed off, lost in thought for a moment. Then he shook himself. "It's a Time Lord trick. Unless I'm killed quite suddenly I can regenerate. My body heals but it changes in the process. Everything changes; brand new face, brand new body. It's a bit iffy; you never really know what you're going to get. I could look like anything."

"Does it hurt?" Viera asked quietly.

"A bit," he admitted in a way that made her think he was greatly under-exaggerating. He moved on quickly. "As far as humanity goes… let's see... There's the two hearts. Some of the rest is a bit hard to explain, slightly different physiology, telepathic tendencies… And you know the way you hear the TARDIS when no other human can?" Viera nodded. "I can too, but it's more than that. I can feel the Earth spinning in orbit around the sun when we're standing there. I can sense which points in time are fixed and which are in flux. Jack, Jack with his impossible immortality is a fixed point in time and space. A fact. I can feel that and it about drove me off before I got used to it." The Doctor shook his head before Viera could ask. "Long story."

"That's a lot to have rattling around in your head," she stated, trying to imagine it. She wondered if it was anything like having the whole of Nenavist in her head.

"I suppose," he mused. "Made for it though. My mind's wired to process far more and do it faster than any human." It wasn't arrogance, just a fact. Mostly.

"Are there other's like you?" Viera asked, a little bit cautiously. He'd never mentioned others of his race, and she had to wonder if that was purposeful.

He brushed it off. "Only one like me," the Doctor pointed out with cheery pride.

Viera smiled her agreement. "True, but not quite what I meant." His grin faded and she began to wish she hadn't asked. She _wanted_ to know him better, wanted to understand, but she hated to cause him any sort of pain. If he'd brushed it off again she wouldn't have pushed.

But he answered. "No," he stated quietly. He took a deep breath, deciding to get the explanation out of the way. It was brief. "There was a war. The Daleks… Everyone lost. My planet. My people. They're gone. All of them. I'm the last of the Time Lords."

"I'm sorry," Viera murmured softly, knowing the words were terribly inadequate. He met her eyes for only a moment before shaking himself and moving on.

"That answer your questions?" he asked.

Viera swallowed and tried to shake off the fierce pangs of sympathy. "I dunno. Haven't even gotten to the 'normal' questions." She tried to let her tone fall into the easy teasing she was used to with him. "Favorite color. Favorite food. Birthday." She furrowed her eyebrows, getting into the new path of conversation. "Do you keep track of your birthdays?" Viera had lost track of how long she'd been traveling on the TARDIS. All that time travel made it a bit confusing. She rarely knew what day it was. Or rather what day it would have been if they were on a linear timeline.

The Doctor smiled appreciatively and tapped his temple. "It's all up here. I suppose using the calendar you're used to…" his gaze grew distant as he calculated in his head. He'd never bothered to figure it out before. Dates didn't really matter when you lived in a time machine. "November 23rd."

"904," Viera mused thoughtfully. "You really are old."

"Hey now," he protested, straightening his jacket. "I'm in the prime of my life. Just look at me." She matched his grin.

"Alright, my _ancient_ friend," she teased. "Where are we off to?"

"I've got just the place!" the Doctor declared. He spun around and started flipping switches. Viera stepped up to the console and held down levers when he directed her to. The TARDIS took off and soon enough they were landing.

The Doctor nearly skipped to the door. He stepped out of the TARDIS first, then stuck his head back in. "Best grab a coat!" he hollered. "And hurry! You've got to see this!"

Viera grabbed the dark brown coat she'd grabbed out of the wardrobe just in case and wrapped it around her shoulders. The dark coat set off the dark emerald of her dress nicely and brought out the flecks of green in her eyes. Her caramel-brown hair was pulled up into an elegant bun, with help of a nifty little hair-contraption they'd picked up on Obchody. It looked like a simple gilded comb, but it pulled her hair into elegant styles with little effort on Viera's part. Which was really the only reason Viera didn't go everywhere with a ponytail or loose hair the way she had back on Earth in her time.

"Look!" the Doctor exclaimed, motioning to the world around them as she joined him. "Snow! Real snow!"

"As opposed to… artificial snow?" Viera asked, amused at the Doctor's enthusiasm. He locked the door behind her then offered his hand. She took it gladly, holding onto his arm with her other hand as well.

"Well, you know… ash… ballast… " the Doctor suggested. At her raised eyebrows he shrugged, making a face. "I've a bit of a history… But we've got the real thing, this time!"

Then they rounded the corner and Viera found herself standing in an old London market. The street was busy, full vendors with their stands, families shopping, children playing, friends talking. A man was selling roasted chestnuts. Music filled the air.

"There are carolers," Viera whispered, pulling on the Doctor's arm like an excited child. She barely stopped herself from squealing as they turned in place to get a look at it all. It seemed a bit ridiculous to be so excited about that after having seen such grand alien worlds, but it looked like something out of The Christmas Carol. It _felt_ like Christmas, as homey as it was exotic to be out of her time.

The Doctor's enthusiasm seemed to feed off her joy and visa-versa; soon they were both grinning like fools and loving it. He turned to a messy-haired young boy as they passed.

"You there, boy. What day is this?"

"Christmas Eve, sir," the boy answered pleasantly.

"What year?" the Doctor pressed.

The boy gave him an odd look. "You thick or something?"

"Oi!" the Doctor protested as Viera snickered quietly. "Just answer the question."

"Year of our Lord 1851, sir."

"Right." He turned back to Viera, contemplating. "Nice year. A bit dull."

She thumped his shoulder with a gloved fist. "I think it's lovely."

The pleasant hum of noise around them was suddenly overtaken by a distant yell, a woman's voice. "Doctor!"

They turned together, understandably startled. "Who, me?" the Doctor asked aloud.

"Do you know someone here? Now, I mean?" Viera asked.

"_Doctor!_" the voice called again. The Doctor grinned at Viera and she shook her head, smiling as well. Then they took off running towards the voice, her hand still in his.

Moments later they skidded to a stop in front of a dark-skinned young woman backing away from a door. There was growling behind it; sounded like some sort of wild animal, but of course things were never that simple.

"Don't worry. Don't worry! Stand back," the Doctor ordered, stepping in front of the woman and taking control of the situation. "What have we got here?"

Viera eyed the door warily and looked around the alley for something to use as a weapon if need be. There were snow-covered wheels and carts and clothes lines but Viera couldn't see anything that looked particularly useful. She turned her gaze back to the rattling door.

"Okay, I've got it," the Doctor assured. "And whatever's behind that door, I think you should get out of here-"

The stranger looked at him like he was crazy but otherwise ignored him. "_Doctor!"_ She bellowed. Viera was reminded quite suddenly of Donna. She bit her lip and tried let the Doctor's antics distract her.

"No, I'm standing right here," he pointed out, waving at the woman with raised eyebrows. "Hello!"

She definitely thought he was mad. "Don't be so stupid. Who are you?"

"You were calling for the Doctor," Viera pointed out, puzzled. The woman gave her an odd work as well.

"_I'm_ the Doctor," the Doctor explained.

"Doctor who?" the woman asked, confusing them both. Viera and the Doctor shared a look, feeling as though they'd missed part of the conversation.

"Just… the Doctor."

"Well there can't be two of you!" the woman protested. Her gaze shifted behind them and her voice turned demanding. "Where the hell have you been?"

Viera and the Doctor turned to see a man in a waistcoat and frock coat run up.

"Right then! Don't worry! Stand back!" the stranger shouted, moving in front of the Doctor. "What have we got here then?"

Heavens, he looked _excited_ at the prospect of something dangerous behind the door. Viera blinked at the familiarity of his attitude. The Doctor looked rather befuddled at the way he'd just been shunted aside.

"Hold on," he protested. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," the stranger stated with utmost confidence. "Simply, the Doctor. The one, the only, and the best."

A little too much confidence perhaps. He wasn't quite cheeky enough to pull that off, taking himself a bit too seriously, or so Viera thought. But then she was feeling rather offended that the stranger was trying to set himself up as _the_ Doctor.

"Hold on. You're _who_?" Viera asked, looking from him to the real Doctor and back again. She was ignored as a loud bang threatened to make the door give way.

"Rosita! Give me the sonic screwdriver!" the stranger demanded. The sense of surreality swelled as Viera watched the woman hand him a tool.

"The what?" the Doctor, _her_ Doctor questioned.

The stranger was still talking to Rosita. "Now quickly, get back to the Tardis!"

"Back to the what?" her Doctor asked, completely wrong-footed.

"If you could stand back, sir. This is a job for a Time Lord!" the stranger declared dramatically, motioning the Doctor away from the door.

"Job for a what Lord?" the Doctor practically yelped. It would have been terribly amusing if Viera hadn't been so completely baffled herself. Who would declare themselves a Time Lord? And to the _real_ Doctor himself? Even the most dedicated imitator should know better than to try to fool the real thing.

_'Everything changes; brand new face, brand new body',_ she remembered. Was it possible, even remotely possible that the stranger was telling the truth? That he _was_ the Doctor? But shouldn't he know her? Know himself? There was no recognition in either of the Doctors' eyes.

The puzzle was set abruptly on the back burner as the door burst open. Viera took a step back at the sight of the black creature.

"Well that's different," the Doctor commented precisely as the stranger spoke as well.

"Oh, that's new!"

It had a metal face the color of bronze and round empty holes for eyes. What looked like two handles were fixed at the top of its head. Its body was pitch black, made of thick cloth that almost gave the impression of fur. Garbled growls poured from its throat as it charged.

As one, both men drew their screwdrivers and faced down the beast with steady determination.

"Allons-y!" they said together, the odd echo sending a shiver of déjà vu down Viera's spine.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: On one hand I really liked this special and want to see Viera in it. On the other hand, I'm not really sure that her presence would change much and I kind of want to get to the later specials quickly. I'm a bit tempted to skip a large chunk of the middle… but that tends to leave the story feeling disjointed so perhaps not. Any opinions? Want me to take my time or just get on with it?


	17. 5:2 Cybermen

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Fractured Memories: "Intro (End of Silence)" by Red**

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PART FIVE – THE NEXT DOCTOR

Chapter Two - Cybermen

"It's some sort of cyber-conversion, but what's it doing here?" the Doctor questioned aloud.

"It's fallen into my trap! Oh, I've been hunting this beast for a good fortnight. Now step back, sir…" the stranger ordered, trying to push the Doctor back with one arm. The ragged creature chose that moment to lunge. The Doctor ducked, pulling Viera down with him, but the beast wasn't aiming for them. It leapt over their head, latching onto the brick wall of the building behind them.

They straightened and the Doctor moved to get a better look at it. "Some sort of primitive conversion," he mused aloud. "Like they took the brain of a cat or a dog…"

"What do you mean 'conversion'?" Viera asked, keeping an eye on black creature. It was at the perfect height to turn back and leap down on top of one of them.

"Talking's all very well," the stranger interrupted, his tone almost scolding. "Rosita!"

His companion had a long length of rope in hand. "I'm ready!"

"Now watch and learn," the stranger exclaimed, taking the rope and swinging it like a lasso. The Doctor had to duck out of the way; Viera stepped back. A flick of his wrist and the loop went flying, settling firmly around the beast scaling the wall. "Excellent! Now then, let's pull this timorous beastie down to earth…" The stranger's enthusiasm was cut short as the creature took off up the wall, pulling his would-be captor along effortlessly.

"Or not," the Doctor muttered.

"Anyone for plan B?" Viera asked.

"I think I might be in a little bit of trouble," the stranger admitted, dangling helplessly higher and higher.

"Nothing changes," the Doctor remarked dryly. He darted forward and grabbed the loose end of the rope. "I've got you!"

Viera grabbed on behind him, but the beast didn't seem to feel their weight at all. The Doctor was pulled up the side of the building as well. She let go before she'd gotten more than a couple inches off the snow.

"You idiots!" Rosita yelled as the men were pulled further away.

"Oh fantastic," Viera muttered sarcastically, worry in her hazel eyes. The Doctor's legs kicked instinctively. They were too high up to safely drop to the ground. The beast scrabbled up the side of the building then crawled in through an open window and for a moment.

"Come on!" Rosita snapped. Viera barely had time to register the ax in her hand before the other woman took off running around the side of the building. Viera gave one last glance at the Doctor several stories up then followed, glad that _someone_ had a plan. They raced up the stairs built into the building, hearing the men start a rather casual conversation behind them. The door of the top level was unlocked, but jammed. Both women shoved their shoulders against it and the door gave way, spilling them into a big open room. It was grungy, with laundry hanging on clothes lines strung between support columns, and crates and barrels scattered around the room. The black creature didn't look so out of place there.

It looked at them and for a moment all three of them froze. Then the beast gave another garbled growl and took off. It sprinted towards the window in the opposite wall. The man who claimed to be the Doctor was pulled in through the first window, landing on the ground with a thump and a grunt.

"Let go!" Viera yelled. She ran towards the window, but they were all the way across the room and the beast was faster.

"Can't!" he called back, tugging at the rope tightly coiled around his arm. Then the Doctor was pulled in behind him and they were both dragged through the room, the stranger shouting all the way.

"It's gonna jump!" the Doctor yelped, seeing the window. He struggled with the rope, but his wrist was too tangled in it to get free.

"We're gonna fall!" the other man cried. The creature dove out the open window. The men were dragged towards the light, trying to brace their feet against the ground to no avail.

Rosita got their just in time. She swung the ax with all her might, severing the rope before the two Doctors could be yanked to their potential deaths. Their momentum suddenly gone, the men tumbled backwards, sore and dusty but safe. Viera reached the window a moment later, heaving a sigh of relief and giving Rosita a properly grateful look. She peered outside nervously, but she couldn't see any sign of the creature.

"You alright?" Viera asked, turning back to watch the Doctor climb to his feet. They men grunted and groaned their complaints as they stretched and staggered upright. They exchanged a look and suddenly began laughing. "Suppose you're fine then," Viera muttered. She shook her head but couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her face as the two men laughed off their most recent brush with death.

They hugged and patted each other on the back, still laughing. Rosita walked closer, dropping the ax to put her hands on her hips. "Can we get out of here?" she questioned snappishly. Without waiting for an answer, Rosita spun around and marched towards the door. The men shared another look and followed, still chortling. The stranger went first; the Doctor paused a moment to sling his arm around Viera's shoulders.

They were still laughing when they filed outside and made their way down the stairs.

"Well I'm glad you think it's so funny!" Rosita snapped. "You're mad! Both of you! You could've got killed!" Goosebumps ran down Viera's arms, but that was hardly the closest brush with death they'd had. They paused in the alleyway near brightly blazing fire drum.

"But evidently we did not," the other man chuckled. "I should introduce Rosita, my faithful companion," he said, moving closer to her. "Always telling me off."

"Yeah, they do, don't they?" the Doctor replied. Viera elbowed him in the side on principle, which only prompted an innocent look and raised eyebrows. "Rosita," he mused, turning back to the other companion. "Good name. Hello, Rosita."

Rosita wasn't impressed. She gave the Doctor a sarcastic sneer and turned on her 'Doctor', who was still prodding bruised muscles. "Now I'll have to go and dismantle the traps! All of that for nothing!" she yelled at the other man before storming off. "And we've only got twenty minutes till the funeral! Don't forget! Then back to the TARDIS, alright?" she called back.

_She really does remind me of Donna._

"Funeral?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Long story," the other man replied. "Not my own. Not yet." He groaned as he bent to brace himself on his knees. "Oh dear. Not as young as I was."

"Well. Not as young as you were when you were me," the Doctor quipped.

The stranger looked puzzled. "When I was who?"

"You really don't recognize me?"

_He doesn't recognize me either,_ Viera mused silently, letting the Doctors have their discussion. She tucked her arms around her middle and watched their expressions. _He's hardly noticed me at all. If that is the future Doctor… then what happened to me? _She couldn't ask the stranger, even if she'd felt inclined to interrupt. Viera wasn't sure she wanted to know, and it was probably against some time law or another.

"But you're the Doctor! The next Doctor! Or the next-but-one, a future Doctor anyway. No, don't tell me how it happened!" the Doctor stopped him from speaking with an upheld hand. "Although… I hope I didn't just trip over a brick. That would be embarrassing. Then again, painless. Worse ways to go. Depends on the brick," he rambled. He spoke of his own end so easily, but recalling their discussion earlier, Viera had to wonder how much of that was sincere.

"You're gabbling, sir. And might I ask, who are you exactly?" the other man narrowed his eyes.

_That's a bit of a complicated question, _Viera contemplated.

The Doctor faltered. "No, I'm, uh, I'm just… Smith! John Smith. And this is Viera," he added, watching the so-called-Doctor carefully for any signs of recognition. There were none. "We've heard all about you, Doctor. Bit of a legend, if I say so myself."

Viera barely kept from rolling her eyes, though she smiled anyway. He had such an ego sometimes, though she had to admit he _was_ something of a legend.

"Modesty forbids me to agree with you, sir," the other Doctor stated. "But yes! Yes I am."

_Maybe he is the Doctor after all._

"A legend with… certain memories missing. Am I right?" the Doctor questioned.

"How do you know that?"

"You've forgotten me," he stated quietly.

_And me_, Viera wanted to add. The Doctor, her Doctor glanced at her but didn't add her name. She supposed it complicated things enough to tell the other man that he should know _him_, let alone both of them.

The other Doctor looked a little lost; his voice was quieter. "Great swathes of my life have been stolen away. When I turn my mind to the past… there's nothing."

"Going how far back?"

"Since the Cybermen. Masters of that hellish wall-scuttler and old enemies of mine. Now at work in London town. You won't believe this, but they are creatures from other world."

"Really," the Doctor drawled, pretending surprise rather badly. "Wow."

"Imagine that," Viera muttered noncommittally.

"It's said they fell onto London. Out of the sky, in a blaze of light. Then they… found me…" the other man trailed off, staring into the fire with an expression that stirred pity in Viera. "Something was taken… and something was lost." He looked up, pinning the Doctor with painfully hopeful eyes. "What was I like? In the past."

"I… don't think I should say," the Doctor apologized. "Sorry. Got to be careful with memory loss. One wrong word…"

"It's strange though. I talk of Cybermen, from the stars. And neither of you so much as blink."

The Doctor lit up. "Ah, don't blink, remember that? Whatever you do, don't blink! The blinking and the statues, and Sally and the angels… No?" Viera was looking at him with the same confusion as the other Doctor. She made a mental note to ask about it later.

"You're a very odd man," the stranger stated. Viera snorted, then covered her mouth to keep from laughing louder.

"I still am," the Doctor muttered, studying the other man. "Something's wrong here, d'you mind if I just…?" He started pulling his stethoscope out but their new acquaintance was already distracted.

"The funeral! The funeral at two o'clock! It's been a pleasure, Mr. Smith, Miss Viera," he said, bowing. "Don't breathe a word of it!"

"Oh wait, can't we come with you?" the Doctor asked, disappointed.

"It's far too dangerous! Rest assured, I'll keep this city safe!" He started to run off, but he remembered something and jogged back a couple steps. "Oh, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," Viera echoed.

"Merry Christmas, Doctor," her Doctor stated. Then the other man darted around the corner and they lost sight of him.

"Do you really think that's you?" Viera asked quietly as soon as it was just the two of them.

"Oh, could be," the Doctor said easily. He glanced over and caught sight of her apprehension. He turned fully towards her and took her shoulders gently. "Hey now, no worries. We'll help him get his memories back."

"He doesn't…" _see me_, "act like you. Not quite. He's different."

The Doctor shrugged, looking mostly unconcerned though she wasn't sure how honest that was. "Missing chunks of memories can do that do a person."

"Yeah, but…" Viera bit her lip, not entirely sure she should bring it up. "If he's the Doctor… where am I?"

The Doctor flinched so minutely she almost missed it and then his grin was back. "Is that what you're worried about? Who knows how many years in the future this is for him. I bet you've settled down somewhere, made a home and a family for yourself."

_Or it could be centuries in the future and I'll have died,_ Viera read between the lines. _Or… he said something was lost. Maybe the Cybermen killed me._ The possibility frightened her, she didn't want to know how she'd die, but it sounded more likely than her settling down elsewhere. It would take an awful lot to make her even consider leaving the TARDIS.

"So what now?" Viera asked, changing the subject. "Find the funeral? Stop the Cyberman? Return his memories? Save the day?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor replied, grinning widely. He offered his arm. "Care to join me?"

_Always._ Viera took his arm with a fond smile and they set off down the street, asking people they passed for information about the whereabouts of the funeral.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: *sigh* Seems I've lost my momentum on this thing. Hopefully that's just a temporary thing and the next chapter will come easier. I'd really like to get to Children of Earth soon, but there are a couple other things to write first. Or perhaps I'll rearrange. Hmm, now there's an idea…

I used the words 'stranger' and 'the other man' a lot in this chapter, but I couldn't figure out what to call him since they don't know his name yet (and I mostly try to keep the story in Viera's point of view) and calling him any form of "Doctor" gets confusing. Should I leave it as it is or not? Suggestions?

Anyways, reviews are always welcome. They make for good motivation. :)


	18. 5:3 Infostamps and a Fob Watch

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Searching for Answers: "Mystic Baltic" by Corner Stone Cues**

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PART FIVE – THE NEXT DOCTOR

Chapter Three – Infostamps and a Fob Watch

They found the funeral procession easily, following the directions of a friendly street vendor.

Great black horses with black plumes on their heads pulled a hearse down the street. Another carriage and mourners followed, all in pure black finery. Viera watched the grim parade with mild curiosity, the rest of her attention focused on the voices of Rosita and the other Doctor. The pair hadn't noticed Viera and her Doctor sneak up on the other side of the road.

"Now, with the house empty, I'll effect an entrance at the rear while you go back to the TARDIS," the other man was telling Rosita. "This is hardly work for a woman."

Viera's eyebrows raised and her gaze swung to the arguing pair. Rosita looked outraged.

"Oh don't mind me saving your life. That's work for a woman, isn't it?" she grumbled, scowling fiercely at the other Doctor.

"The Doctor's companion does what the Doctor says. Now off you go!" the other man ordered.

"Oh really?" Viera muttered, narrowing her eyes at her Doctor. He gave a sheepish grin and shrugged. Amusement brightened his brown eyes; he knew better than anyone that his companions had strong wills and minds of their own. Viera was something of an exception, being a follower at heart, but Donna would have slapped him for even making such a remark.

The thought provoked a fierce pang of grief that wiped out any semblance of amusement from her expression. Viera hastily turned her attention back to the man they were following. The mourners in the street were wandering out of sight and the man with missing memories chose that moment to dart across the road towards the house. The Doctor followed, but while the other man snuck around the back, the Doctor strolled up to the front door. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and soon the two of them were inside.

They headed straight towards the back door, hearing the quiet sounds of someone fiddling with the lock. _Why isn't he using the sonic screwdriver? _Viera wondered. She stood back as the Doctor threw open the door, in the perfect position to see the astonished look on the other man's face.

"Hello!" the Doctor greeted.

"But… how did you get in?" the other man asked.

"Oh, front door. I'm good at doors," the Doctor said, brushing aside his own explanation. "D'you mind my asking… is that your sonic screwdriver?"

The other man held the tool in his hand. It looked like an ordinary, old-fashioned screwdriver. "I'd be lost without it," he declared proudly.

The Doctor wasn't quite so impressed. "But… that's a screwdriver. How is it sonic?"

_ What is going on?_ Viera thought, watching confusion take over the other man's expression. _Is this really the future Doctor?_

"Well. It makes a noise," the other man said, tapping the handle of the screwdriver against the door frame. "That's sonic isn't it? Now, wince we're acting like common burglars, I suggest we get out of plain view," he urged. The Doctor moved out of the way to let him in, then shut the door behind him.

"You brought your… friend along?" the other man asked, only then noticing Viera. Feeling defensive at the incredulousness in his voice, she crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him.

"Course I did," the Doctor answered easily, watching the other man's reaction. "Why wouldn't I?"

"She's a woman," he protested.

"Exactly!" the Doctor replied, grinning. He left it at that and abruptly turned to wonder deeper into the house.

_ He really does enjoy that,_ Viera thought, rather amused herself at the befuddlement on the other man's face. She raised an eyebrow at him, then flounced away, following the Doctor. A few moments later and the other man caught up.

As they got deeper into the house, the Doctor let the other man take the lead. The man with missing memories searched the room thoroughly, opening drawers, digging through papers. The Doctor seemed more interested in watching _him_.

"What are we looking for?" Viera asked.

"Signs of alien infiltration," the other man answered.

"Right. Of course." She wandered the room, looking about curiously but not touching much.

"This investigation of yours… what's it all about?" the Doctor asked.

"It started with a murder."

"Oh good," the Doctor mused. It took him a moment to notice the incredulous look he was getting from the other man. "I mean bad," he amended. "But whose?"

The other man continued rummaging through the desk drawers. "Mr. Jackson Lake. A teacher of mathematics from Sussex. He came to London three weeks ago… and died a terrible death."

"Cybermen?" the Doctor asked, leaning forward

The other man stilled a moment, his expression grim. "Hard to say. His body was never found. But then it started: more secret murders, then abductions." His voice got quieter, haunted beneath the calm. "Children… stolen away in silence."

"By the Cybermen?" Viera asked, giving the Doctor a worried glance. "What would they want with kids?"

The Doctor looked grave but shook his head. One mystery at a time, but he'd figure it out. "Whose house is this?"

"The latest murder: the Reverend Aubrey Fairchild. Found with burns to his forehead, like some advanced form of electrocution."

"But who was he? Was he important?" the Doctor pressed.

The other man narrowed his eyes at him. "You ask a lot of questions."

"I'm your companion!"

A faint smile pulled at the other man's lips, and he answered without further suspicion. "The Reverend was a pillar of the community, a member of many Parish Boards, a keen advocate of children's charity."

"Children again…" the Doctor murmured.

"Do you think that's why he was killed?" Viera asked. "Because he might have protected the kids they're taking?"

"He was famously good to them," the other man interjected. "He'd discipline them, birch them, send them to the workhouse…"

Viera grimaced. "Not so much a protector then," she muttered, rather appalled.

The Doctor didn't look too impressed either, but he pressed on with his questioning. "What's his connection to the first death, Mr. Jackson Lake?"

"It's funny," the other man said slowly, staring at the Doctor. "I seem to be telling you everything. As though you engender some sort of… trust."

"Yeah, he does that," Viera mused. The Doctor grinned at her.

"Perhaps, but… you do seem familiar, Mr. Smith. I know your face… but how?"

"I wonder…" the Doctor pondered. "Can't help noticing, you're wearing a fob watch."

The other man followed his gaze down. "Is that important?"

"Legend has it that the memories of a Time Lord can be contained within a watch. D'you mind?" the Doctor asked quietly, holding out his hand.

Viera didn't want to interrupt, but her mind was swimming with questions. _How would that happen? Why would anyone…? _More questions to ask later. The other man handed over a pocket watch, it's chain still attached to his waistcoat. The Doctor handled it with great care, his gaze locked on his potential-future-self.

He spoke slowly, dramatically. "It's said, if it's opened…" Then he popped open the back of the watch and a couple gears fell out. The intensity of the moment was broken as everyone's gaze fell to the cogs on the floor. "Oh. Maybe not."

"It's more for decoration," the other man explained, a bit embarrassed.

"Yup," the Doctor agreed. He took a deep breath and moved on. "Anyway! Alien infiltration!"

The other man went back to searching through the desk. "Just look for anything different, possibly metal. Anything that doesn't seem to belong. Perhaps a mechanical device that would fit no earthly engine. It could even seem to be organic, though unlike any organism of the natural world…" As he rambled the Doctor turned his back and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He winked at Viera who was watching him curiously. It hummed quietly as he scanned their side of the room then changed pitch as it hovered over the desk in front of him. A moment longer and the lock clicked open quietly.

"Shh!" the other man ordered, straightening abruptly and turning towards them. The Doctor tucked the screwdriver back into his jacket pocket. "What's that noise?"

"Oh just… me," the Doctor covered awkwardly, "whistling." He whistled a high-pitched fluctuating tone in a credible imitation of the screwdriver's hum.

"Has anyone checked that bureau?" Viera suggested. Her tone was dry but a smile tugged at her lips, thoroughly amused by the attempted subterfuge.

"Ah yes, wonder what's in here," the Doctor said innocently, as though that hadn't been his aim all along. He opened the bureau, Viera and the other man moving close enough to peer over his shoulders. Three silver cylinders lay inside. The Doctor picked one up and waved it at the other man. "Different and metal. You were right."

"What are they?" Viera asked as they both picked up one of the devices to look it over. The Doctor didn't protest so they couldn't be too dangerous. …Probably. Viera set her cylinder down again carefully.

"They're infostamps!" the Doctor blurted, then tried to backtrack as he remembered that he was supposed to be letting the other man lead. "I mean, at a guess. If I were you, I'd say they worked something like this…" He held up the cylinder and pressed a button on the end. The infostamp flared to life, sending a projection streaming from the other end. The pictures flickered across the mirror behind him and they all turned to watch them.

"D'you see? Compressed information," the Doctor explained. Photos, charts and writing blinked from one to another too quickly for Viera to make much sense of it. The Doctor had no such trouble. "Tons of it! That's the history of London, 1066 to the present day. This thing's like a disk, a Cyberdisk! But why would the Cybermen need something so simple?" he asked rhetorically, talking himself through the problem. "They've gotta be wireless… Unless! They're in the wrong century. They haven't got much power. They need plain old basic infostamps to update themselves…"

The other man was beginning to look pained. He sat down shakily, his mind obviously not on the conversation. "Doctor…" Viera murmured, drawing his attention.

"You alright?" he asked, his rambling done immediately.

"I'm fine," the grimacing man tried to wave them away as the Doctor moved closer.

"No, what is it? What's wrong?" he questioned. The Doctor knelt in front of their new friend, giving him his whole attention.

"I've seen one of these before." The supposed-Doctor was beginning to truly look sick, pale and shaky. The memories drew words from him in quiet gasps. "I was holding… this device. It was the night I lost my mind. The night I… regenerated." He sounded so hurt, scared. Lost. Viera's heart twisted, and she knelt next to him, laying her hands on his knee in a feeble attempt to comfort. Maybe he was the Doctor, maybe he wasn't, but she hated seeing anyone in pain. "The Cybermen. They made me change. My face. My mind. My whole self… And you were there." He reached forward suddenly to touch the Doctor's face. "Who are you?"

"I'm a friend," the Doctor said, deeply-rooted sincerity and concern. "I swear."

The other man was desperate, almost crying in his distress. "Then I beg of you, John. Help me."

"Ah, two words I never refuse," the Doctor stated quietly.

"It's going to be alright," Viera added, patting his knee gently. Slowly calming, he glanced at her as the Doctor stood up and paced.

"This isn't a conversation for a dead man's house," the Doctor stated. "it'll make more sense if we go back to the Tardis. Your Tardis," he amended. He jogged off, darting around the room, opening doors. "I just need to do a little final check, won't take a tick. Cause there's one more thing… I can't help thinking, if this room's got Infostamps, then maybe, just maybe, it's got something that needs infostamping..." The other man was hardly listening, still sitting where he was staring off into space with that lost look on his face. Viera stayed by his side, but her gaze followed the Doctor around the room. She saw him freeze as he opened the last door, his brown eyes widening just a little.

"Okay." He slammed the door closed again. "I think we should run."

Viera tugged the other man to his feet. The Doctor leapt away from the door just in time; it came crashing down behind him. A large metal man strode into the room, his blank eyes reminiscent of the beast they'd seen earlier.

"Delete!" the Cyberman declared in a loud monotone. Viera pulled on their new friend's arm, but he was frozen, stark fear on his face.

"Run, Doctor! _Now, _Doctor!" Viera's Doctor yelled, running towards them. He snatched the other man's arm as he passed, and between them Viera and the Doctor pulled him into the hall. The Doctor pulled the door shut behind them and a quick twist of his screwdriver locked it. The three of them hurried down the hallway, only to skid to a stop as another Cyberman stepped out from around the corner in front of them.

"Wrong way," Viera yelped, scrambling back the other way.

"The Doctor will be deleted," stated the Cyberman. It stomped after them steadily as they darted through the house. They'd reached a more open room when the nearby door was knocked down and the first Cyberman clumped towards them. "Delete," it bleated.

"Stairs!" the Doctor ordered. "Can't lead it outside!" He dug through a nearby umbrella stand, pulling out walking stick and discarding it, then an umbrella, which opened uselessly. Viera pushed the other man ahead of her up the stairs, turning to watch with wide eyes as the two Cybermen closed in. Then the Doctor spotted a sword mounted on the wall. He snatched it up and turned on the mechanical men with a fierce expression.

"I'm a dab hand with a cutlass," he warned, brandishing the sword. "You don't want to come near me when I've got one of these! This is your last warning!" The Cybermen didn't so much as hesitate. The Doctor stepped back towards the stairs. "No? "Okay, _this_ is your last warning!" Still no reaction from the ever-nearing robots. "Okay, this is really your last warning."

"Get out of there!" Viera pleaded. They Cybermen were nearly upon him.

"Okay, I give up," the Doctor agreed. He turned and darted half way up the first set of stairs, Viera and the other man clambering ahead of him. Then he turned and tried to reason with their relentless pursuers.

_ Come on. Why can't we just run?_ Viera thought desperately. She knew why they couldn't, of course; it was the same reason they'd gone for the stairs rather than the door. They had to find some way of stopping those creatures before they could go after anyone else. She still couldn't help wishing that the Doctor would just focus on keeping himself safe for once.

"Listen to me properly," the Doctor ordered, talking fast and solemnly, doing his utmost to persuade the Cybermen. Viera wasn't sure they even heard him. "Whatever you're doing stuck in 1851, I can help!" He used the cutlass to parry the silver hand that reached for him. And again, backing up the stairs as the machine pressed onwards. "I mean it! I'm the only person in the world who can help you! Listen to me!"

_ Oh God,_ Viera prayed, just barely managing to stay out of the Doctor's way. _Please. Please, he can't die here. Not like this. There has to be something…_ The other man's words from earlier came back to her then. He'd said the Reverend had died from electrocution. _Energy._ But then again, what if he'd been wrong? Or what if that wasn't what the Cybermen were planning to use just then? What if she couldn't redirect it like she thought she could?

The Cyberman swung an arm towards the Doctor again, and again he stopped it, holding it away from his head with the sword.

"I'm the Doctor," he declared, gritting his teeth. "You need me. Check your memory banks. My name's the Doctor! Leave them alone!" he ordered, glancing very briefly up the stairs to Viera and the other man. The strength of the metal monster slowly forced him down and back. "The Doctor is _me_!" He was practically laying on the stairs by then, but he managed to bring his leg up. He planted his trainer against the metal chest and shoved backwards. The front Cyberman stumbled back into the other one, giving the Doctor enough time to scramble to his feet.

_ What does it matter? _Viera scolded herself furiously. _I have to try. They're going to kill him!_ Hope and fear and adrenaline washed through her body, leaving her feeling cold, strong, and almost sick with the turmoil. _God, please let this work. _She forced herself to stop thinking about it and act.

The Doctor managed to dart a few feet up the stairs before the Cybermen regained their balance and resumed their approach. Viera took advantage of the brief moment when the Doctor was off balance on the stairs to push past him. He grabbed for her but missed.

"Viera, _no_!" the Doctor barked.

It was already too late. She froze within reach of the first Cyberman, hazel eyes wide with fright. _Lord, help,_ was all she had time to think before the metal hand grasped her shoulder and a sharp burst of electricity jolted into her body.

_ Thank you_, Viera sighed mentally, relief pouring through her as the energy easily diverted into power channels carved into her body. The Cyberman stilled, and Viera imagined confusion. She spared a brief moment to wonder whether it was properly alive, then the stolen electricity was at her fingertips and she pressed her hand against the handle-like antenna on the head of the metal man.

The Cyberman gave a mechanical cry as the energy surged through it, then it went silent and collapsed. Viera had to throw herself backwards to keep from being pinned by the body.

The Doctor caught her shoulders and immediately began tugging her back up the stairs. "Come on," he ordered fiercely, pushing her ahead of him. "The other one won't try that again with you."

Viera swallowed as she wondered how easily those metal hands could break her neck. The other man was staring at them with a vague sort of horror, twisting the infostamp in his hands. The sound of stomping feet turned both her and the Doctor around.

The remaining Cyberman walked over its fallen comrade without hesitation, reaching for the nearest obstacle in its way, which happened to be the Doctor. He deflected another blow, but the mechanical man took hold of the sword with both hands and the Doctor couldn't get it free. A hard shove from the Cyberman sent the Doctor sprawling. Viera clambered to his side without any idea of how she was going to help, ignoring his order to run for it.

A sudden beam of fierce blue light from behind them saved their lives. The stream of electricity hit the Cyberman square in the face. It gave a garbled cry and convulsed as the blue light surged around its head. Then Viera and the Doctor scrambled out of the way as it dropped to its knees and its head exploded with a bang.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know Viera's kinda just along for the ride during a lot of this, but bear with me. She'll be a bit more involved as things progress, then it's on to Planet of the Dead and Children of Earth (which I hope you'll think is worth the wait). Still struggling with this episode (or just with writer's block), but I can't quit now that I've started. Darn it, I _will_ finish this.


	19. 5:4 A Different Sort of TARDIS

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style: "Labrynth" by Position Music**

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PART FIVE – THE NEXT DOCTOR

Chapter Four – A Different Sort of TARDIS

"Oh, thank God," Viera sighed, leaning again the banister as she tried to catch her breath and stop shaking.

The Doctor gave a relieved laugh, but when Viera looked over the other man, despite having just saved them all, was looking very ill indeed.

"Infostamp," the Doctor observed, delighted. His attention remained on the headless robots. "With a cyclo-Steinham core. You ripped open the core, broke the safety, zap!"

"Doc- John," Viera interrupted. The Doctor glanced at her, then followed her gaze to the man leaning against the door frame. Confusion and anguish contorted the other man's expression, and the Doctor's grin faded away.

"I did that," the other man mumbled, sounding dazed. "Last time."

_Is he going into shock?_ Viera worried, biting her lip.

"Come here, let me look at you," the Doctor murmured. He pulled out a stethoscope from one of his numerous pockets and stepped closer. "Let me just check…"

"You told them you were the Doctor. Why did you do that?" the other man demanded lowly.

"Oh just… protecting you," he answered, listening to one side of the man's chest, then the other.

_Two hearts?_ Viera wondered. He wasn't acting like the Doctor, this man who'd wedged himself into the corner, but then he had been through a lot. Trama did odd things to people. It was still hard to reconcile the other man with the Doctor she knew.

"You're taking away the only thing I've got," the man accused, shaking. "Just like they did."

"It wasn't like that," Viera protested quietly. She finally stepped forward and laid a hand on his arm, though she tried to give him enough space that he wouldn't feel cornered. His fevered gaze turned to her for a moment and her heart ached for the pain she saw there.

"They stole something… something so precious…" The man's voice broke and he shook his head, closing his eyes. "I can't remember," he gasped. He turned his helpless, pleading expression on the Doctor. "What happened to me? What did they do?"

"We'll find out," the Doctor promised solemnly. "Together." The other man's gaze fell again to the infostamp he was twisting in his hands. Viera caught the Doctor's eyes and questioningly glanced at the stethoscope. He gave a very slight shake of his head.

_One heart. Not the Doctor._ Viera wondered if it was bad to feel relieved. It had hurt, trying to imagine her Doctor becoming this stranger. _Focus, Viera,_ she chided herself.

"Maybe should go find Rosita," she suggested quietly.

"Yes," the Doctor breathed, patting the other man on the shoulder bracingly. "Best we're not here if someone comes to check on the missing Cybermen. Come on, then." He gently pried the open infostamp from the man's hands and tucked it away in a jacket pocket. Then he led the way outside, his companions following quietly.

The other man took the lead once they were out, showing them the way to his TARDIS and the meeting place with Rosita. He seemed to feel a bit better as they got further from the house and the broken Cybermen. Viera wanted to know more about the Cybermen, but she wasn't sure that was wise.

"How'd you meet Rosita?" she asked instead.

The man blinked at her a moment, wrong-footed by the question when he'd been so lost in thought. He straightened slightly as he considered the answer; he lost some of that hopelessness and regained a bit of what Viera was beginning to think of as his Doctor-persona.

"I was tracking down one of the dark shades created by the Cybermen. Then I heard a scream, down by the wharf. I rushed to help, and found Rosita there being attacked by a Cyberman." The man shrugged modestly. "I managed to tip some crates onto him, took Rosita by the hand and we ran."

"That's very brave," the Doctor said approvingly.

"All in day's work," the other man dismissed, his tone somehow managing an odd mix humility and smugness. Whoever he was, he had a pretty good grasp on the Doctor's personality.

The sun began to set as they walked, giving depth to the shadows cast by the walls that hemmed them in on all sides. They made their way through narrow streets, past factories and run-down buildings. Finally they turned a corner and spotted Rosita near the end of the street. She looked up and saw them, and her whole face lit up.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed, lifting up the hem of her skirt to run towards the other man. The true Doctor and Viera held back a bit, smiling at the reunion. "I thought you were dead!" Rosita threw her arms around the other man, who patted her back a bit awkwardly.

"Now then, Rosita," the man chided gently. "A little decorum."

"You've been gone for so long!" Rosita protested. She turned to the Doctor and Viera. "He's always doin' this! Leaving me behind! Going frantic!"

"What about the TARDIS?" the man asked, sidestepping the subject.

"Oh, she's ready," Rosita assured excitedly. "Come on." She grabbed the man's arm and pulled him along behind her.

Viera waited until they were far enough down the street before leaning towards the Doctor. "If he's not really you, how does he have a TARDIS?" she asked very quietly.

The Doctor just grinned at her. "Dunno, but I'm looking forward to this." Then they trailed after the other pair, the Doctor almost prancing in his enthusiasm. They were led into what must have been an abandoned building. Crates and barrels were scattered about the room, many of them supporting trunks and luggage. A few pieces of furniture had been added, a table, chairs, blankets. Truth be told it looked rather homey, if a bit rag-tag.

"You were right, Rosita," the other man said, rubbing his arms to rid himself of a chill as they walked into the warmth of candlelight. "The Reverend Fairchild's death was the work of the Cybermen!" He walked to a wash basin and splashed some water on his face.

The Doctor looked around, fascination and curiosity playing across his expression. "So… you live here?"

"A temporary base, till we rout the enemy," the other man replied. "The TARDIS is magnificent, but it's hardly a home."

_Home is exactly what the TARIDS is. _Viera's expression twisted in bemusement. She gave the Doctor a slightly incredulous look, to which he merely shrugged.

"Where is this… TARDIS of yours?" Viera asked, having to work to make the skepticism in her voice sound more like curiosity.

"Out in the yard," the man answered absently, wringing out a wet cloth to finish washing up. The Doctor moved towards the door, but was waylaid by curiosity.

"What's with all this luggage?"

"Evidence," the other man replied. He dug amongst a pile of clothes for his coat while Rosita put a tea kettle on a small stove. "Property of Jackson Lake, the first man to be murdered. Oh, but my new friend is a fighter, Rosita!" he seemed to turn the conversation away from Jackson almost without thinking. "He faced the Cybermen with a cutlass! And Viera! That young woman took the Cyberman's attack and turned it right back on him. How did you do that?" he asked, enthusiasm shifting into confused inquisitiveness.

"That's… kind of complicated," Viera faltered. She heard the faint humming of a sonic screwdriver behind her and tried to talk over it without being obvious. "I'm… sort of specially made to handle certain levels of… electricity."

"You were born that way?" the man asked, mildly fascinated. Rosita gave her a skeptical look.

Viera hesitated. She couldn't exactly say she'd had the 'gift' forced on her by an alien race, millennia in the future. Behind her there was a faint click of something unlocking. "That's… sort of," she hedged. The Doctor did think she'd been born with some sort of predisposition for empathy or an open mind or something. "It's a bit…" _complicated._ Viera finally gave up and shrugged uncomfortably.

The Doctor and Rosita were having a hushed conversation behind them. When she stopped talking Viera could hear Rosita's low words.

"Can you help him, sir? He has such terrible dreams. Wakes at night in such a state of terror."

The other man heard as well but didn't seem angry that she was sharing a secret like that; Rosita was doing it out of concern after all. He gathered up his coat and walked past Viera. She turned to watch, leaning against a stack of luggage behind her.

"Come now, Rosita," the man chided quietly, sounding tired instead of embarrassed. "Is it any wonder? With all the things a Time Lord has seen, everything he's lost... He must surely have bad dreams."

Viera's eyes darted to the real Time Lord. For just a moment he held her gaze and she could see such grief there that it took her breath away. "Yeah," he agreed, barely more than a whisper. Then the moment was gone and the Doctor glanced away, back towards the trunk he'd been digging through. The sorrow vanished from his face as though it'd never been there.

"Oh now, look!" he exclaimed, pulling an infostamp out of one of the jackets in the trunk. "Jackson Lake had an infostamp!"

"But how?" the other man asked. "Is that significant?"

The Doctor didn't look as excited as Viera thought he would once he'd apparently figured everything out. His voice was serious when he spoke. "Doctor. The answer to all this is in your Tardis. Can we see it?"

"Mr Smith. It would be my honour!" the other man replied sincerely. Viera bit her lip, rather certain he wouldn't be smiling anymore once they'd turned his world inside out again. He let them out into a courtyard, excitement in his step. Viera's eyes widened as she saw that what sat in the large open space was not a phone box, but a beautiful blue hot air balloon.

"There she is!" the man exclaimed, extending his arms dramatically. "My transport through time and space. The TARDIS!"

"You've got a… balloon," the Doctor stated, completely stunned. The look on his face was priceless.

"It's incredible," Viera told the other man, earning a proud grin. It was incredible; she'd never seen a hot air balloon up close before. Old-fashioned gold designs decorated the blue surface. At least as far as she could tell, it looked very well-designed.

"Tardis!" the man correct the Doctor. Rosita stood behind his shoulder, grinning up at the balloon. "T-A-R-D-I-S, it stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style! D'you see?"

The Doctor's mouth worked as he struggled to find the right words. Viera grinned to see that. "I do now," he managed, tugging absently on one ear. He quickly warmed to the idea and nodded to himself. "I like it! Good… TARDIS!" He finally started walking around the balloon, his enthusiasm growing. "Brilliant! Nice one. And it's inflated by gas, yeah?"

The other man was standing by a stranger Viera had only just noticed. "We're adjacent the Mutton Street Gasworks, I pay them a modest fee," he explained. He pulled out a stack of pound notes and gave one to the stranger. Viera wasn't sure whether he was someone from the Gasworks or just someone paid to watch out for the balloon. "Good work, Jed!"

"Glad to be of service, sir!" Jed replied.

"You've got quite a bit of money," the Doctor observed.

"Oh, you get nothing for nothing!" the other man replied.

_Unless you have physic paper or an actual sonic screwdriver and an ATM,_ Viera mused, glancing at the Doctor.

"And how's that rip panel, Jed?"

"All repaired, should work a treat. You never know, maybe tonight's the night, Doctor!" Jed encouraged. "Imagine it, seeing Christmas from above."

"Not yet, I think. But one day I shall ascend. One day soon," the other man stated. He didn't seem quite comfortable with the prospect.

"You haven't gone up yet?" Viera clarified.

Rosita answered for him. "He dreams of leaving. But never does."

"I can depart, in the Tardis, only once London is safe," the man protested. "And finally, when I'm up there..." His voice grew wistful. "Just think of it. The time and the space."

"The perfect escape," the Doctor murmured.

_Is that what it is for you?_ Viera wondered, watching them both. Neither were currently paying her any mind. She couldn't really tell whether the Doctor was just talking about the other man or not._ Are you running, Doctor? _From the past? From loss? It was easier to move on to new adventures than to stop and think about what was left behind. Viera knew that well enough. Her family, Donna, her old life… What would it be like to leave behind even more than that? To lose a planet, an entire race, and companion after companion? How else could you cope with loss like that?

She hadn't considered it before really, the reasons why the Doctor might have adopted the lifestyle he had. It suited his nature though, always meeting new people, seeing new things, saving worlds and experiencing wonder, living to the fullest. It wasn't _just_ running, if it was running at all; the Doctor loved his life, most of the time. Anyone could see that. But Viera wondered what would happen if he ever had to stop, if he no longer had all of space and time as an escape.

It was a silly idea; Viera was willing to bet adventure and life-threatening situations would manage to find him anyways.

"D'you ever wonder what you're escaping from?" the Doctor's voice drew her attention back the conversation.

The question was gentle and the other man didn't flinch, though his smile faded slowly. "With every moment."

"Then d'you want me to tell you?" the Doctor asked. The other man, who had been staring at the balloon, snapped his gaze to the Doctor. "Cos I think I've worked it out, now. How you became the Doctor. What d'you think? D'you want to know?"

There was a long pause. The other man just looked at the Doctor, hope and fear building into indecision on his face.

_You can't refuse the offer,_ Viera thought, expression pinched with sympathy. _The truth might be awful, but not knowing would drive you mad._

Finally he dropped his gaze and nodded once, sharply.

"Come, Rosita!" he beckoned. "We'd best be inside for this." The Doctor gave him a look of mingled pity and pride and clasped him on the shoulder. Rosita led the way, and they all trailed inside.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I only meant for there to be one more chapter after this, but I didn't get as far with this one as I thought I would (I feel the need to post _something_ or risk stalling out). So there will be two, maybe three more.

Please review, even if it's just to let me know you're reading or urge me to hurry it up. I could use the motivation.


	20. 5:5 Truths

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Something Lost: "Anodynia: 1. Tranquillo" by Break in Reality**

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* * *

**

PART FIVE – THE NEXT DOCTOR

Chapter Five - Truths

They were all quiet as they went back inside. The Doctor found a seat on the edge of a table and propped his feet up on a desk. The other man and Rosita sat on proper chairs in front of him, as attentive as children at story time. There was another chair in the corner, but Viera nudged the Doctor over a bit and perched on the edge of the table beside him.

When they were all settled in, the Doctor began to tell the story. His gentle, steady voice made Viera think of safety and home, despite the seriousness of the tale. "The story begins with the Cybermen. Creatures from a universe hidden beneath our own, just out of sight. But then a long time away, and not so far from here... the Cybermen were fought, and they were beaten, and they were sent into a howling wilderness, called the Void. Locked inside forevermore. But then a greater battle rose up, so great that everything inside the Void perished. But as the walls of the world weakened, the last of the Cybermen must have fallen through the dimensions. Back in time. To land here. And they found you."

"I fought them. I know that. But what happened..?" the other man asked quietly.

"At the same time... Another man came to London. Mr Jackson Lake! Plenty of luggage. Money in his pocket."

It was then that Viera finally realized how the story was going to end. The money in his pocket, the infostamp in the trunk… Jackson Lake wasn't dead; he'd forgotten himself.

"Maybe coming to town for the Winter season, I don't know," the Doctor continued. "But he found the Cybermen, too. And just like you, exactly like you, he took hold of an infostamp... "

"But he's dead," the other man interrupted, voice made insistent by fear more than belief. "Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him."

"There was no body," Viera murmured, her own mind still processing the realization.

"You kept all his suitcases, but you could never bring yourself to open them," the Doctor pointed out gently. "I told you the answer was in the fob watch. Can I see..?" The other man stared at him a moment, looking lost, but eventually he reached for a thin gold chain and drew out the watch. He handed it to the Doctor, who propped it up on his palm and turned it over. Two initials were carved on the back. "J.L. The watch is Jackson Lake's."'

Surprise then confusion washed over Jackson's expression; he looked pained the way he had in the Reverend's house when the memories had overwhelmed him.

"Jackson Lake is you, sir?" Astonishment coated Rosita's words.

"...but I'm the Doctor," Jackson stated, trying to find even ground again.

The Doctor looked at him a moment then gently corrected him. "You became the Doctor. Because the infostamp you picked up was a book about one, particular man." He picked up the infostamp he'd found in the trunk and turned it on, aiming the projection at the wall. Viera watched the pictures curiously, far more interested than she'd been when the other infostamp showed a brief history of London. Face after face flickered over the wall. Viera counted them and wondered if they were all really the Doctor or just faces from his past.

"The Cybermen's database. Stolen from the Daleks inside the Void, I'd say. But it's everything you could want to know about the Doctor."

Viera had counted to ten when the face of the Doctor she knew entered the projection.

"And that's you," Jackson breathed, stunned.

"Time Lord. Tardis. Enemy of the Cybermen. The one, and the only." A smile played across the Doctor's lips, but it was subdued, a mere shadow of his usual enthusiasm. Compassion kept his voice quiet. He turned off the infostamp. Jackson covered his face with his hands. "D'you see? The Infostamp must have backfired. Streamed all of that information, about me, right inside your head."

As acceptance came, so did pained defeat. "I'm nothing but a lie," Jackson murmured.

"No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor rushed to correct him. "Infostamps are just facts and figures. All that bravery – saving Rosita, defending London town! Hm?" he encouraged. He leaned forward to peer into Jackson's face, a hopeful smile on his own. Jackson was shaking and pale in the candlelight, still struggling with his identity.

"And us," Viera added quietly. "_You_ saved us in that house."

The Doctor nodded earnestly. "And the invention! Building a TARDIS! That's all you."

"And what else?" Jackson demanded, suddenly angry. The Doctor's smile vanished, but he didn't speak right away. "Tell me. What else?"

"...there's still something missing, isn't there?" the Doctor said quietly.

_Something lost… something stolen,_ Viera remembered how broken even the fragments of memory had left Jackson and shivered. She pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs, heart heavy with foreboding.

"I demand you tell me, sir! Tell me what they took!" Jackson ordered desperately.

"I'm sorry. Really, I'm so sorry," the Doctor murmured, tired and worn with hard-earned empathy. "But that's an awful lot of luggage for one man. 'Cause an Infostamp is plain technology. It's not enough to make a man lose his mind. What you suffered, is called a fugue. A fugue state. Where the mind just runs away, because it can't bear to look back. You _wanted _to become someone else, because Jackson Lake had lost so much."

The bells of a clock tolled outside, their rich tones barely disrupting the grim mood. "Midnight. Christmas Day," Rosita stated absently.

Jackson didn't seem to hear her or the bells, lost in the tangle his own memories. "I remember... Oh my God..." he whispered. "Caroline. They killed my wife. They killed her." He broke down with sob, covering his mouth as his words became whimpers. Rosita rubbed his back, concern and helpless sorrow on her face. The Doctor and Viera could only watch miserably as he mourned.

The infostamp in the Doctor's hand began beeping like an alarm clock, the end glowing a bright blue. The sound was echoed by the other infostamp from the Reverend's house. The Doctor dug it out but they heard yet another quiet echo of the beeping.

"What is that?" Viera asked, feeling a bit grateful at how relieved she felt by the distraction. The Doctor turned this way and that, trying to pinpoint the noise.

"There's more of them," he muttered, making his way to the luggage. He popped open one of the trunks and his eyebrows rose. Nestled in the clothes lay what looked like a sash or belt, leather straps holding more than a dozen infostamps in place.

"Oh, you found a whole cache of Infostamps!" the Doctor observed, pulling them out.

"But what's that noise?" Rosita demanded.

"Activation. A call to arms." Urgency raised the Doctor's voice into a cry as he dropped the infostamps and bolted towards the door. "The Cybermen are moving!"

Viera was taken aback by his sudden departure, but instinct had her racing after him without needing to think about it. She paused only to yell back over her shoulder. "Sorry!" she apologized, feeling awful for abandoning Jackson while he was bowed with grief. Couldn't be helped, though. The world, or perhaps just London was in need of saving again, and there was no way in hell she was letting the Doctor do it alone. "We'll be back!" _Assuming we survive_. Then Viera slipped out the door and ran after the Time Lord, praying she wouldn't get lost.

_Wouldn't that just figure,_ Viera thought as she paused outside to get her bearings. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen. Worry clawed at her nerves, but she made herself take a deep breath and think. _Which way would he have gone? There's no obvious trail of chaos to follow…_ Viera bit her lip and looked around, bouncing on her toes as she felt she was running out of time. The longer she took, the farther away he got. Then her gaze fell on the snow and she nearly smacked herself in the forehead.

Viera took off running again, following the very distinct tracks of the Doctor's sneakers among the other footprints in the snow.

She found him standing with a few other onlookers, watching a grim parade of children trudging by. They looked miserable, downcast and cold.

"Where are they going?" Viera asked, looking up at the Doctor. He shook his head slowly to indicate he didn't know. "Who are they?"

"Orphans," he stated quietly. A man in a black coat and top hat strode behind the children and immediately the Doctor was distracted. He jogged up beside the man, eying the strange earpieces he was wearing.

_Those don't belong in this time,_ Viera observed worriedly. _Cybermen? I still don't get it. Why do they want the children?_

"Can you hear me?" the Doctor asked the man in the top hat. There was no reaction. "Hello? No? Mr. Cole, you seem to have something in your ear. Now this might hurt a bit, but if I can just…" He reached for his sonic screwdriver, but a rumbling growl from the shadows made him pause. A dark masked creature like the one that had taken the Doctor and Jackson up the building peered out from the shadows.

"They're on guard. Can't risk a fight. Not with the children," the Doctor mused.

"But what do they want from them?" Viera asked.

The young man who'd helped Jackson with the balloon wandered over. "All need a good whipping, if you ask me."

"What?" Viera snapped, turning on him with disgust twisting into her expression involuntarily. She couldn't help it. They were just kids, tired and alone. What they _needed_ was to be looked after.

Jed seemed startled by her sudden vehemence. He raised his hands slightly in a gesture of surrender. "Was just sayin'," he protested. "There's tons of 'em. I've just seen another lot coming from the Ingleby Workhouse, down Broadback Lane-"

The Doctor interrupted him urgently. "Where's that?"

"Just down that street there," Jed replied, pointing. "Fifth on the right, few streets down, then left."

"Come on," the Doctor ordered. Viera followed as he raced down the street, following Jed's directions easily. They staggered to a stop at the sight of two more men with top hats, each with their own silent processions of children.

_I don't understand._ "What are they going to do with them?" Viera asked the Doctor, frightened for the children and the one who had been taken before. "And why _children_?" Why not target adults? It wasn't like the average grownup had any more defense against the Cybermen than the children did.

The Doctor glanced at her, expression solemn in the flickering shadows of firelight. "They're orphans," he reminded her gently. "With the owners of the workhouses in their control… there's no one to miss them. No one to make a fuss."

_No one to protect them_. "There's us," she stated resolutely, watching the children pass with watering eyes. Viera felt her heart twist with a physical ache, because the truth was, even if they saved the children from the Cybermen, they couldn't save them from their loneliness. They couldn't bring back their parents or take them all on the TARDIS or promise they'd never be unwanted, unprotected again. They might be able to save the children's lives, but they'd have to survive the rest on their own.

Her unguarded expression was all too easy to interpret. Empathizing with her thoughts, the Doctor squeezed her shoulder and let his hand linger.

"There's us," he agreed quietly.

They hid behind an archway and stacked barrels, watching from a distance as the children were escorted past a large, foreboding doorway. The two Cybermen standing guard turned and marched after them when the last child was through.

"Where do you think that goes?" Viera asked.

"Where ever it is, we're going to have to find another way in," replied the Doctor. "There's got to be another door… or a window… a ventilation shaft… Haven't climbed through one of those lately," he mused, a flicker of his usual grin on his face. They skirted the edge of the building, but when they turned the corner they skidded to a stop. Two Cybermen too in the next archway, looking right at them.

"Oh! That's cheating!" the Doctor protested. "Sneaking up. Did you have your legs on silent?"

An elegant woman dressed all in red walked out of the shadows, calm as could be, and stepped right into reach of the Cybermen. "So, what do we have here?" she asked, her gentle accent lending sophistication to her tone.

Viera held her breath, waiting for the Cybermen to attack. They were too far away to stop it.

The Doctor's bearing was suddenly completely serious as he tried to coax the woman away from the danger. His arms reached for her though his feet didn't move. "Listen, just walk towards me, slowly. Don't let them touch you..."

"Oh, but they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys," the woman stated rather fondly. "They are my knights in shining armor. Quite literally."

"You're working with them?" Viera asked, confused.

The Doctor was still reaching for her, though his arms had dropped a little. The worry in his voice had faded into something Viera thought might be a prelude to resignation, but the coaxing tone didn't leave. He'd do everything he could for that woman, but Viera knew even he couldn't save someone who didn't want to be saved.

"Even if they've converted you, that's not a Cyber speech patter. You've still got free will. I'm telling you, just _step away_…"

_Conversion?_ Viera wondered, suddenly wishing she'd made time to question the Doctor more on the nature of the Cybermen. There really hadn't been time though.

"There's been no conversion, sir," the woman corrected him. "No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted. Liberation."

"What are they doing with the children?" Viera asked the moment there was a break in the conversation.

Cool distain dripped from the woman's voice as she answered. "That is none of your concern."

"I beg to differ," said the Doctor, his own tone growing colder though a smile stretched across his face. He didn't like them targeting kids any more than Viera did.

"And who _are_ you?" the woman asked with narrowed eyes.

He rocked back on his heels, all confidence and swagger. "I'm the Doctor."

"Incorrect," one of the Cybermen bleated. "You do not correspond to our image of the Doctor."

"Yeah, but that's 'cause your database got corrupted," stated the Doctor. "Oh, look, look, look! Check this! The Doctor's infostamp." He pulled out an infostamp from his pocket and tossed it to the Cyberman. Viera had to admit, she was a little curious about how much information was on that thing herself.

The Cyberman popped open the top of the cylinder and studied it.

"Plug it in. Go on. Download," the Doctor urged.

The Cyberman looked up sharply. "The core has been damaged. This infostamp would damage Cyberunits."

"Oh well. Nice try," the Doctor stated with a tilt of his head and a one-shouldered shrug.

With a snap the metal man closed the cylinder. "Core repaired. Download." The symbol on the Cyberman's chest opened up, leaving a hole just large enough to plug in the infostamp. A moment later he pulled it out again. "You are the Doctor," he stated.

"Hello," the Doctor greeted with a wave, unsmiling but calm.

"You will be deleted."

_The hell he will,_ Viera thought, taking a step forward without thinking. The Doctor grabbed her arm to halt her, suddenly animated.

"No, no, but just… let me die happy," he stammered, motioning wildly for the Cybermen to halt. "Tell me one thing. What _do_ you need those children for?"

The woman eyed him a moment then finally deigned to answer. "What are children ever needed for? They're a workforce."

_They're just kids._ Viera's eyes narrowed in dislike and anger, but she kept quiet and stayed where she was.

"But for what?" the Doctor questioned.

"Oh, you'll see," the woman stated smugly. "Very soon now, the whole Empire will see. And they will bow down in worship."

"And it's all in time for Christmas Day. Was that your idea, Miss…?"

"Hartigan," the woman replied. "And yes, it's the perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people. Only this time, it won't be the words of a man."

_Is that what this is about? Feminism gone mad?_

"The birth of what?" the Doctor asked warily.

"A birth," was all she'd say. "And a death. Namely yours. Thank you, Doctor. Glad to have been part of your very last conversation," the woman said cheekily before turning to the Cybermen. "Now, delete them."

"Delete," the Cybermen echoed in sync. The stepped forward, their steps loud against the stone road with the weight of their metal bodies. It sounded awfully ominous.

Viera wondered if she could get them both to reach for her at once, and whether there was any chance they knew what she had done at the Reverend's house and might skip electrocution to go straight to strangling her or some such thing. The Doctor's grip on Viera's arm tightened. She met his gaze calmly, listening to the Cybermen march closer, and for a moment she wondered if she was going to have to struggle to get him to let go. Then he dropped her arm, the set of his mouth grim.

The Cybermen got to them at the same time, but only one reach towards Viera while the other reached for the Doctor. He ducked out of the way, scrambling backwards. Viera stepped forward instead. She grabbed the Cyberman's buzzing hand, felt the electricity surge up the pathways in her arm and balanced on the tips of her toes to reach the robot's handle-shaped antenna. As she pushed the power through her other arm and into the Cyberman's head it gave a garbled cry and convulsed. Viera didn't let go until it stopped creating electricity, then she stepped out of the way as it collapsed with a clang.

She didn't see the other Cyberman come up behind her. The Doctor called a warning, but Viera's reflexes were too slow. She'd barely started to turn around when she felt the cold metal hands close around her neck.


	21. 5:6 A CyberQueen

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**CyberKing: "Prophecy" by James Dooley**

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PART FIVE – THE NEXT DOCTOR

Chapter Six – A CyberQueen

"Don't!" the Doctor shouted. He sounded as commanding as Viera had ever heard him, but it was the quieter order from behind that stilled the Cyberman.

"Wait," Miss Hartigan snapped. Viera clutched at the Cyberman's grip with both hands, trying to pull him away far enough to take more than shallow gasping breaths. He wouldn't budge. She stretched up on the tips of her toes trying to find a better position, but that didn't do much good either. She could feel her skin bruising under the pressure of metal hands; it wouldn't take more than a twitch from the Cyberman to snap her neck.

_At least it'd be a quick death_, Viera mused, fear tangling with stunned numbness until she didn't know what she was feeling. _Oh God, quick or not, I don't want to die here. Not like this. Please._

"Don't you move," Miss Hartigan ordered coldly. Viera couldn't see her, though she watched the Doctor freeze. Helpless anger ruled his expression, but something in his eyes told her his mind was going a thousand miles a minute, looking for a way out.

"Let her go," the Doctor demanded. His voice was low and dangerous, but the Cyberman paid him no mind.

Viera heard Miss Hartigan's heels click against stone as she stalked closer. The edges of Viera's vision were obscured by growing spots of darkness, but she managed a vague glare in Miss Hartigan's direction as she strode into sight.

"What did you do?" Miss Hartigan demanded. Viera couldn't have answered if she wanted to; she didn't have the breath to make a sound.

_Please…_

"Let her go," the Doctor repeated, ignoring the question. "There are better ways to get what you want." Even the coaxing tenor didn't quite erase the dangerous undertones in his voice. Viera thought they'd be wiser to listen. She wished they would; she was suffocating slowly. Tears pricked at Viera's eyes, prompting pleading in the Doctor's voice. "We can work something out. Just let her go."

Miss Hartigan wasn't interesting in negotiating. After a brief pause of consideration she turned towards the shadows. "Shades!" she hollered. Two of the shaggy black creatures galloped into sight, garbled growls in their throats.

They were last things Viera saw before her vision went dark. She clung to her other senses just long enough to hear Miss Hartigan's orders.

"Take her. And be rid of the Doctor!"

_No. No! Run. Please run._

The Cyberman's obedient "Delete!" would echo in her nightmares.

* * *

Viera woke to screaming. Dazed hazel eyes fluttered open to the grisly sight of four men in black coats and top hats being electrocuted. Horror flooded through Viera as she watched them convulse then collapse, finally silent.

_Oh God…_ She tried to sit up, but went still again immediately when she noticed the Cybermen surrounding her. Miss Hartigan was there as well, a smug little smile curling the edges of her mouth as she eyed the dead men.

Viera's wrists were tied tightly behind her back with coarse rope, another set of bruises to deal with later. She could still feel the echo of cold hands around her throat. Viera's breathing was still shallower than was comfortable; her throat was badly swollen. There wasn't anything she could do about it just then except fight the urge to panic at the vague sensation of suffocation. The rough bonds scraped her skin raw as she twisted her hands around as discreetly as possible, trying to get her fingers on the knots.

"Don't even bother," Miss Hartigan ordered Viera, her calm confidence firmly in place. She looked down at the younger woman like she was an insect waiting to be squashed beneath her heel. "There's nowhere to run. Before the night is over, the whole of London will belong to the CyberKing." A odd looking Cyberman stood at her shoulder. It had a black mask and antenna, and Viera could see what seemed to be a brain encased in a clear shield at the top of its head.

Dismissing Viera as inconsequential, Miss Hartigan turned away. One of the Cybermen pulled Viera to her feet and marched after the other woman, allowing her to see through the doorway. The long, steam-filled hallway she'd woken in opened to a much larger space. It was some sort of factory.

_At least now I know what happened to the children,_ Viera thought as she watched massive gears turned by small bodies. They looked miserable and frightened, but at least they were alive. The Doctor was on his way; they'd be free again soon, and as safe as they could make them.

_Unless they killed him,_ a treacherous vein of pessimism reminded Viera. _Maybe he's never going to save the day again. Maybe you're all alone and helpless and nobody's coming._

She shook off the fear with a flinch, unwilling to accept the possibility. The Doctor would be fine. They'd gotten out of worse.

"Children! Pay attention!" Miss Hartigan shouted, causing the whole roomful of children to stop and turn towards her. "Now let the new Industrial Revolution begin. I want to see you _work!_"

They obeyed, turning back to their jobs. They shoveled coal, toted heavy buckets, and pushed large wheels that fit together like the cogs of a watch, all under the emotionless eyes of Cybermen overseers. Miss Hartigan observed the room with satisfaction, as pitiless as her metal companions.

_They're so young_, Viera lamented. A child who barely came up to her hips struggled with the bucket he'd been assigned, soot-streaked and exhausted. He didn't spare her a glance as he passed, expecting neither help nor pity. He simply struggled on.

Miss Hartigan turned back toward the hallway while Viera scanned the room, wondering what it was and how hard it might be to stop it.

"Energy levels sixty percent and rising," she heard one of the Cybermen say behind her. "Soon the CyberKing will awake."

"Then show me," Miss Hartigan ordered genteelly.

"Units six and seven will guard and maintain the machine," the Cyberman stated. "Unit eight, bring the subject."

Viera was pulled away from the working children and made to follow after Miss Hartigan and the leader of the Cybermen. The older woman's hand was tucked into the crook of the Cyberman's arm, as though he were a gentleman. Viera's escort, on the other hand, simply latched on to her upper arm and pulled her along.

The hallways were lined with electronics that didn't belong in that time, wires and meters and metal. It was an odd contrast to the derelict wood and stone of the original building underneath.

Eventually they came to a large open cavern. A bridge stretched from the hallway out to a metal platform and a chair guarded by two Cybermen. Viera was stopped at the doorway, but Miss Hartigan and the Cyberman leader continued on.

"Oh, that is magnificent," Miss Hartigan marveled. "That is royalty indeed. And that's quite a throne. Oh, you will look resplendent," she complemented the leader.

"The chair you designate as 'throne' is not intended for me," the metal man corrected. "My function is to serve the CyberKing, not to become the CyberKing."

"Then who sits there?" Miss Hartigan asked. The leader turned slowly to stare at her with black metal eyes, and Viera shrank back, feeling a shiver course up her spine. Miss Hartigan suddenly understood. "No. Now just… I think if you remember correctly… You said I was to be heralded."

"All hail the CyberKing," the leader called in his eerie monotone.

Every Cyberman around Viera thumped their fists against their chests in a salute. "All hail the CyberKing," they echoed.

"But you promised me! You said I would never be converted!" Miss Hartigan protested.

"That was designated… a lie."

Miss Hartigan ran then, but she didn't get far. There was no room to escape on the bridge, and the door to the hallway was crowded with Cybermen. Two of them grabbed her, beginning to march towards the throne.

"Don't you dare!" she shrieked, fighting wildly to no avail. "Don't you _dare!_"

Viera watched the struggle silently, unable to help even if she wanted to. She thought the knots were loosening slowly beneath her persistent prying, but they were still too tight to wriggle out of and her fingers were beginning to go numb. Not to mention the fact that she was completely surrounded by Cybermen. Viera felt a pang of pity, but it was diluted by a vicious sense of justification. Miss Hartigan had dug her own grave. This fate was of her own making.

And Viera could still hear her calm, cool voice ordering the Doctor's death.

Mere feet away from the throne, Miss Hartigan tried another tactic. "Use her instead!" she yelled desperately.

_Use me…? Oh. Oh! Maybe… Oh, this is such a bad idea…_ "Yes!" Viera agreed, her hoarse shout garnering everyone's attention. Her throat protested, and it took everything she had not to start coughing; she suspected that would only make it harder to breath. She stared back at them, pale and wide-eyed and not quite able to believe that the words were coming out of her own mouth. _Bad, bad idea. _"Use me. I want to be converted." She nearly choked on the words, but she couldn't take them back. Bad idea or not, it was the only one she had. If there were any chance she could stop the Cybermen once she was their CyberKing, she had to try.

And if it didn't work… well the Doctor was still out there. He'd find a way to stop her, even if it killed him to do it.

_Such a bad plan_…

Viera was guiltily far more relieved than disappointed when the Cybermen continued to pull Miss Hartigan to the throne. "Subject's abilities are unidentified. Threat level is unknown. The subject must be studied before conversion," the leader bleated before turning away from Viera.

"You can't do this to me!" Miss Hartigan shouted. The Cybermen strapped her arms to the chair, ignoring her useless struggles.

"Incorrect," the Cyberman leader stated. "It is done."

"But I would have served you anyway!"

"Your mind is riven with anger, and abuse, and revenge. These have no place in a Cybermind. Activate!" On the leader's orders, a headpiece lowered slowly from the ceiling. It was split in two, but it reminded Viera sharply of the Cybermen's handle-like antenna. "Emotions have tormented you all of your life," he continued in his metallic drone. "Now you will be set free. This is your liberation."

_Emotions are the greatest freedom we have,_ Viera thought, horrified despite her dislike of the intended victim. _They're taking away everything that makes her human. I was going to let them do that to me?_

"For the love of God! Have you no pity?" Miss Hartigan pleaded.

"Correct," the leader stated simply. The headpiece hovered above her head a moment longer, then closed with a loud clang and lit up with electricity. Miss Hartigan gasped and shuddered the way the dying men had, but she remained alive.

"The CyberKing is born," the leader declared.

"All hail the CyberKing," said the legion.

A moment later the bright blue of electricity shimmered away and Miss Hartigan opened her eyes. They were completely black, empty. Viera shivered and tried to back away, only to find herself trapped by the legion of Cybermen behind her.

"Behold, such… information! I can see the stars. The worlds beyond. The Vortex of Time itself and the whole of infinity." When Miss Hartigan spoke there was a faint metallic echo to her words. Her eyes were still blank, but something like awe shaped the expression of her face. "Oh, but this is _glorious_!"

The Cyberman leader disapproved. "That is incorrect. 'Glorious' is an emotional response."

"Exactly!" Miss Hartigan stated. "There is so much joy in this machine."

_They failed. She's still… feeling, _ Viera thought, not sure she could say Miss Hartigan was still human. She was definitely not emotionless though. _Is this better or worse than her becoming exactly like them?_

"Joy is not acceptable," the Cyberman objected.

"Don't you see? My mind is stronger than you ever thought! It dominates, sire! It dominates you!" Miss Hartigan declared triumphantly.

"Alert! You are operating beyond the standard parameters."

_Civil war?_ Viera wondered, glancing at the Cybermen behind her. None of them were reacting much to anything that was happening. It'd be a good thing, overall, if they were to take to fighting each other rather than continuing with whatever plan they had in store, but Viera was very aware that she would be right in the line of fire if that happened.

A flare of energy from the throne yanked Viera's attention back to the argument. A bright beam of energy shot from Miss Hartigan's headpiece, hitting the Cyberman leader in the center of his chest. He cried out and shook, but Miss Hartigan didn't let up. Then with a bright explosion of light, the Cyberman disintegrated.

Cold and confident as ever, Miss Hartigan stared down the other Cybermen. "I am CyberKing, my mind inside Cybermen. And you will obey me."

Without hesitation the Cybermen struck their chests in a salute. "All hail the CyberKing."

_So much for that civil war._

"Come, my soldiers," Miss Hartigan ordered quietly. "Come to me."

Viera tried to wedge herself into an out of the way corner, but one of the Cybermen snatched her arm and pulled her forward relentlessly. Struggling didn't do any good. She resigned herself to waiting for a better chance to escape. The Cyberman dragged her up onto the platform, briefly drawing the attention of the CyberKing's black eyes. Viera stared at Miss Hartigan a long moment before being summarily dismissed as she turned back to watch two Cybershades settled on either side of her throne.

Viera breathed a sigh of relief and let the Cyberman pull her to a corner of the platform, well away from the throne and the Cyberking's headpiece. Viera eyed the walls but could see nothing within her limited reach that she could draw energy from.

Cybermen and Cybershades alike flowed into the cavern and across the bridge. They walked onto the platform but most of them continued marching, disappearing through side doors into the depths of the massive metal creation they were perched on.

It was only when the platform shuddered and the whole metal mass heaved upwards that Viera began to realize that what they were standing on was some sort of giant robot. The bridge broke away and crumbled down into the cavern.

_Oh, this is bad,_ Viera worried, biting her lip. She twisted her hands, pulling furiously at the ropes, but succeeded only in tearing her skin. A drop of blood trickled down one of her palms. _Not reality-bomb bad, but still very not-good for London._

_ Where is the Doctor?_

_

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_

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Huh, this actually took a turn I didn't plan for at all. I kinda like it when my stories surprise me. This is shorter than I meant it to be, but at least I didn't make you wait for it! One more chapter. I think. Maybe.

Also, big thanks to everyone who's reviewed, especially MayFairy! I really, really appreciate it. I love getting feedback. And thanks to Allonym for the support and suggestions!


	22. 5:7 White Sand

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**To Wait on Lonely Shores "Embers" by Helen Jane Long**

**

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**

PART FIVE – THE NEXT DOCTOR

Chapter Seven – White Sand

The low thrum of engine vibrated through the metal beneath Viera's fee and resonated through her body. They crashed through the roof and water rained down on them, pouring past the gap in front of them like a dying waterfall. It was until they breached the surface that Viera realized they were coming out of the river. The robot stretched taller and taller until they were towering above all of London. None of people below stood a chance. They had no technology to use against the Cyberman, no experience with such a threat. The Cybermen would rule uncontested unless…

_Anytime Doctor._

"Behold, I am risen," the former Miss Hartigan declared, her metallic voice projected over the gathering masses below. Drawn by the noise of growing chaos, more and more people stumbled out of their houses to stare at the Cyberking, blocking out the moon. Viera could see its vast shadow stretching over them.

"Witness me mankind, as Cyberking of all," Miss Hartigan continued. "And I will walk, I will stride across this tiny _little_ world." Then the terrible robot raised its foot to step onto the bank crowded with buildings.

"Stop!" Viera yelled. Without thinking she stepped towards the throne. A Cyberman stopped her; she strained against his unyielding grip until his cold fingers began to cut off the circulation in her arm. "There are _people_ down there! You'll _crush_ them!"

The Cyberking ignored her. Viera shouldn't have expected anything different: Miss Hartigan had been indifferent to the lives of others even before her conversation.

The robot's foot came down with a crash and Viera cringed. The masses below began to scream and flee in panic.

"My people," Miss Hartigan sounded confused. "Why do they not rejoice?"

Perhaps she might be reasoned with after all. "_Please_," Viera tried again. "They're frightened. You'll kill them if you keep walking. Then you won't have any people at all."

The giant robot paused and Miss Hartigan turned to pin Viera with narrowed eyes. Below, the masses continued to flee. Soon enough she'd see that there was nothing she could do to calm "her people", but Viera figured that every moment of distraction gave London a better chance.

"My people should rejoice," the Cyberking protested. "I herald a new age of knowledge, of power."

"They don't understand that. They've never seen anything like this before. They're scared. Please, if you'll just give them some time…" Viera tried.

"I shall make them understand," Miss Hartigan decided. The robot stepped forward again and she turned away, dismissing Viera's presence. Once more her voice boomed loud enough for the whole town to hear, all confusion lost in her imperious tone. "People of the world, now hear me. Your governments will surrender. And if not… then behold my power." The robot's arm turned around, revealing an enormous gun.

"Wait!" Viera yelped, twisting against the ropes around her wrists. The Cyberking fired anyways. The cannon blasted fire at the buildings below, prompting terrified, pain-filled screams. Its other arm opened into an energy beam that charged quickly and shot a fierce blast that demolished the buildings in its path. Over and over the robot fired, one cannon after the other.

"Stop!" Viera begged. "They're not resisting! You've made your point! _Stop!_" Still caught in the grip of the Cyberman, Viera could do nothing but yell ineffectually. It did no good. Her ears echoed with the sounds of the cannons and the cries of the panicked masses below. Viera fell quiet closed her eyes and sagged in the firm grip of the Cyberman helpless.

She didn't see the hot air balloon soar over the roofs of London until one of the Cybermen spoke up.

"Attention," the guard bleated mechanically. "Proximity alert."

_Doctor._ Viera's hazel eyes shot open, searching the limited span of sky she could see. There were only stars.

"How is that even possible?" Miss Hartigan protested. "Oh, this I would see. _Turn!_"

The robot turned and suddenly Viera could see him. Jackson's balloon floated level with the head of the Cyberking, and there in the basket stood the Doctor. His dark eyes were serious when they met hers, but he threw her a reckless grin and giddy hope flooded through her limbs.

The Doctor wrapped something around his arm, but Viera couldn't see what it was.

"Excellent," Miss Hartigan observed. "The Doctor. Yet another man come to assert himself against me in the night."

"Miss Hartigan!" the Doctor called across the distance between them. "I'm offering you a choice! You might have the most remarkable mind this world has ever seen, strong enough to control the Cybermen themselves!"

"I don't need you to sanction me," Miss Hartigan objected.

"He's giving you a chance," Viera spoke up, more bite to her words than she usually allowed. She'd had quiet enough of the arrogant, cold-hearted wretch. "You should take it. With all that knowledge in your head you ought to know what he's capable of."

"Silence!" the Cyberking snapped at her.

"Such a mind deserves to live. The Cybermen came to this world using a dimension vault. I can use that device to find you a home," the Doctor offered. "With no people to convert, but a new world, where you can live out your mechanical life in peace!"

"I have the world below," Miss Hartigan countered. "And it is abundant with so many minds ready to become extensions of me! Why would I leave this place?"

The Doctor sounded grim, worn by the words he'd repeated over and over, the warning so few ever listened to.

"Because if you don't, I'll have to stop you."

"What do you make of me, sir?" the Cyberking demanded. "An idiot? If you try anything, we'll kill your companion."

"The question is… what do you make of me?" The quieter the Doctor got, the more dangerous he sounded. Miss Hartigan did not relent. She glanced towards the Cyberman holding Viera's arm and the robot pulled her back to reach for her neck. She didn't even have time to try to yank away. Before metal fingers could close around her bruised neck, she saw the Doctor raise something that looked a little like a spear. A narrow beam of blue light washed over her just before the robot's hand got a grip.

Her whole body fizzled and threatened to collapse in on itself. Instinct said to pull away, but Viera's faith in the Doctor provoked submission. The Cyberking, the balloon, the Doctor all disappeared.

It didn't hurt, but for a few moments her physical form was broken apart completely. Time and space shifted around her, but while it was dizzying it didn't overwhelm her. Without her physical form in one piece she had some distance from it all. She was aware enough of it all to feel a deep, humbling sense of awe, then it was all over.

She found herself on a white-sand beach.

The suddenness of her arrival left her head spinning. Viera swayed and quickly sat before the dizziness could make her fall. The hem of her emerald dress tangled around her feet as she she curled her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees, blocking out the alien ocean before her. Her arms ached, still tied behind her.

_Alright. This isn't so bad. It's better than being on the platform of the CyberKing._ Except there she'd had the Doctor close at hand.

Viera was alone on an unknown world again, her home, her family striped away. _He'll find me. He'll deal with the Cybermen then he'll come for me._ But Viera didn't know how much control he'd had over the device he'd used to transport her. She didn't know if he had any way of tracking where she'd landed. _It doesn't matter,_ she chided herself, shoving the doubts deep inside and ignoring their whispering thoughts. _He'll still find me. He will._

Viera waited…

…and waited.

The beach was beautiful but strange. The silver ocean moved like mercury, every crash of its waves upon the shore sent tiny spheres of liquid scattering across the sand. They held their shape, rolling like miniature marbles over the cracks and crevasses of the fine white sand until they reached the ocean and once more began part of the mass.

Overhead the sky was blanketed by a slow moving storm of indigo and violet, the vivid colors of the clouds reflecting almost perfectly on the always shifting ocean. Occasionally a bit of sun broke through and scattered sparkling light across the silver sea and the bright white sands.

It was incredible, but Viera longed for someone to share it with. Or at least the certainty that someone was _coming_. She tried to shake off her worries and enjoy the view, the soft cool breeze and the sun-warmed sand.

_I used to be good at being alone,_ she mused.

The sky cleared eventually. Three distant suns slid towards the horizon and one by one sank into the silver sea. Viera's ears strained for the sound of the TARDIS engines as the day grew cooler; the only noise was the faint breeze, the quiet splash of mercurial waves breaking against the shore.

A faint glow grew on the horizon as the sunlight faded. Viera wasn't sure whether it was an approaching moonrise or a sign of civilization. She hadn't quite worked up the courage to go exploring on her own. They always seemed to find trouble, which was usually more exciting than terrifying when she was with the Doctor, but alone…

Still she waited. Viera was beginning to drift off when the most beautiful sound in the universe startled her awake: the moaning grind of the TARDIS materializing.

Viera leapt to her feet and rushed to the solidifying police box. With her wrists still tied behind her, she stumbled, losing her footing in the soft sand. She'd have fallen against the door, but it opened at exactly that moment and Viera tumbled in.

Strong, lean arms caught her before she hit the ground. Her bruised arms ached where his gentle grip held her, but Viera didn't care. She grinned up at the Doctor, relief brightening the affection in her eyes.

"Hello," the Doctor greeted, standing her upright.

"Hi," Viera breathed, leaning against him as he reached around her to point the sonic screwdriver at her wrists. "Wondered when you'd show up."

"Yes, well, there were a few issues tracking the recalibration of the dimension vault…" the Doctor explained, a bit of sheepishness his voice.

"Mhmm," Viera agreed easily. She felt the rough ropes around her wrists fray and fall apart. The moment her arms were free she threw them around the Doctor. "I knew you'd come though."

He returned the hug readily. "Of course I came. We've been invited to Christmas dinner! Not going to face that without you." The Doctor stepped back and took her hand to pull her further into the TARDIS, towards the infirmary. Its gentle hum sang through her veins, filling her with such a fierce sense of _home_ that it made her eyes sting.

She was safe at last.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: _**Finally**_. That's really all I have to say about this. Good grief.

A quick interlude then onto Planet of the Dead and Torchwood!


	23. Interlude: Jack

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**The Mier Siblings: "Everscape" by Sycross**

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INTERLUDE: PHONE CALLS & FRIENDSHIPS

Jack

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"…then Sarah warned him she'd slap him if he tried that again, but of course he seemed to take that as a challenge…"

The Doctor was lying beneath the power console, tinkering with the electronics. The TARDIS needed a few adjustments before their next trip. They were preparing to travel to the blue planet Trh , home of the three-headed Queen Tigress. The Doctor assured Viera that the Queen and her Kin were lovely, welcoming people. Viera, of course, took that with a grain of salt. The more guarantees the Doctor made about a peaceful trip, the more likely it seemed that they'd end up running for their lives.

"…so I told him if he'd just give me back my timey-whimey detector I could get us out of there in three ticks of a mentor's tale…"

Viera stood leaning against the rails, watching the Doctor work and listening to him ramble. He was explaining what he was doing in-between random bits of stories and conversation. She listened attentively, answering on the rare occasions he needed input. She picked up a little knowledge about the TARDIS and more than a few anecdotes about the Doctor's adventures from the past.

Mostly Viera just enjoyed the constant ebb and flow of his exuberant voice.

"…They're the oddest little creatures, you know. All fuzz and feet and hardly any head at all-"

The phone rang and the Doctor jerked, thumping his head against the bottom of the console. A slew of words in an alien language poured from his mouth in an irritated burst. Viera was rather glad the TARDIS didn't translate that.

"Alright, down there?" she asked, trying to keep the amusement from her voice.

"Oh fantastic," the Doctor griped sarcastically. He lay back down, rubbing his forehead and waved vaguely towards the phone. "Answer that, would you?"

Viera frowned at the silver phone, rather uncomfortable with the idea of fielding calls from the Doctor's past companions. It wasn't her they wanted to talk to.

Of course, she wasn't sure any of them knew Rose and Donna were gone. If they were going to bring them up during the conversation, perhaps it was best she be the one to answer after all.

"Hello?" Viera answered hesitantly.

The voice of Captain Jack Harkness rang out from the speaker. _"Viera! Just the woman I wanted to talk to."_ She could hear the grin in his words.

"Really?" Viera asked a bit suspiciously. She glanced down to see the Doctor had gone back to fiddling with the ship, though she'd bet he was paying plenty of attention. "Why? Not that I'm not happy to hear from you." Somehow she doubted it was just a social call.

_"Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know a Nadej and a Milost?"_

Viera nearly dropped the phone. "What?" she murmured, the breathy word shaking. The background noise of the Doctor's tinkering stopped abruptly. Then he was there, one hand on her arm to steady her as the other snatched away the phone. She didn't protest, too shaken by the question to do anything but stand there. She must have looked pale because the Doctor's voice was low and serious when he spoke to Jack.

"What's going on?" he demanded. His stern expression eased just a little as he realized it was Jack on the other end of the line. A moment went by and understanding entered his eyes.

"He just surprised me," Viera finally managed, holding her hand out of the phone.

Jack's voice was apologetic when she settled the mobile back against her ear. _"I'm sorry, Viera. I didn't think… I got kind of overexcited , you know. They're celebrities where I come from."_

"It's alright," Viera stated. "I just haven't heard those names for a while." Really, she tried very hard not to think about them much at all. She watched the Doctor slide back beneath the controls, going back to his tinkering in silence. Viera closed her eyes and leaned against the edge of the console. "Did you meet them? How are they? Are they alright?"

_"They're fine,"_ Jack assured. _"They __**are**__ your siblings then?"_

"I'm the middle child. Oh, Jack, you didn't tell them about me, did you?"

_"Course not. I figured if you and the Doc hadn't gone to find them there was a good reason."_

"They can't know I'm alive," Viera murmured painfully.

_"I'm sorry,"_ Jack repeated.

"Yeah…" she sighed. "Where did you meet them, Jack?"

_"They found Torchwood. Persistent little twerps, I'll give you that. They found the entrance in the tourist center and somehow hacked their way into the system long enough to get the door open. Then they stormed in, armed to the teeth, and started demanding information about the rift."_

Viera's expression twisted in bemusement as she tried to imagine that. She could picture Nadej using such tactics, but Milost? "Stormed in? Really?"

Jack's tone turned a bit sheepish beneath the annoyance. _"Well, alright, they didn't exactly __**storm**__ in…"_

"They took you by surprise, didn't they?" Viera guessed, pride and amusement coloring her voice. Jack sighed into the phone. She could almost see the chagrin on his face.

_"Flooded the places with some sort of knockout gas,"_ he admitted reluctantly. _"We came to in our own cells while they were digging through our hard drives. We're still not completely sure how they managed it, but obviously we need to work on our firewalls and security."_

"My little sister's completely brilliant with computers," Viera offered, still biting back laughter. "And if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure they're neck deep in high-level contacts and alien tech by this point." She couldn't contact them but that didn't keep Viera from researching them on the TARDIS computers. She had a pretty good grasp of how their lives played out despite not being able to be a part of it. "So what happened?"

_"We escaped,"_ Jack answered, the 'of course' implied in his tone. _"Arrested them and tried to confiscate the information they'd downloaded. Unfortunately they'd already sent it to someone on the outside," _Jack groused. Viera was willing to bet that someone would be one of her cousins. _"We couldn't get them to tell us more than their names."_

"You questioned them?" Viera asked, the implications of that wiping out her amusement in an instant.

_"Of course we questioned them."_

"Jack," Viera drew out the word, warning seeping into her tone.

_"We didn't hurt them,"_ Jack admitted, playing hurt. _"What kind of guy do you think I am?"_

"The sort who does what's necessary," Viera replied without having to think about it. There was nothing judgmental in the words, just truth and a grim sort of respect.

_"Yes. Well. I recognized their names,"_ Jack explained. _"…And they may have mentioned the loss of certain sister. I didn't think there could be too many Viera Miers from America running around in the galaxy. I wouldn't have decided they were a real threat without giving you a call."_

A rush of affection drew Viera's lips into a smile. "Thanks for that. Do you still have them, then?"

_"Yes."_

"You're going to let them go now, right?" she pressed, frowning when he didn't answer. "Right?"

_"They broke into the Hub,"_ Jack reminded her, his annoyance returning. _"I'm supposed to just let them go?"_

"I'm sorry they were trouble, Jack," Viera apologized. "But you know they don't mean any harm. They're just trying to find out what happened to me." Again he didn't reply immediately and she could imagine the stubborn look on his face quite clearly. "You _know_ they have to be out in the world, making contacts, building up their organization."

Jack grunted irritably but stopped arguing. _"Yeah, I know."_ He sounded resigned. _"Suppose that's also why they don't know you're alive, huh?"_

Viera grimaced. "Yes. I fell through the Rift," she explained. "That's the only reason they go looking for answers. That's why I can't go back."

Jack was silent a moment; when he spoke the words were careful. _"Would you go back? If you could?"_

That was a staggering question, but the answer came easily. "I'd like to be able to keep in touch. But if you're asking if I'd give this up to go back…" Viera heard the sounds of the Doctor's jiggery-pokery cease for a moment and knew he'd been paying attention to the entire conversation. She couldn't see his face, but she was glad that it mattered to him. "No. I wouldn't."

The Doctor went back to work as though he'd never stopped, and Viera could hear the smile in Jack's voice when he spoke. _"Yeah, I didn't think so."_

He sounded like he was ready to say goodbye, but Viera had one more request to make. "Jack… would you do me a favor?"

_"Sure thing, Buttercup,"_ he stated.

"Keep an eye out for them? It's… been a rough few years." If history remained unchanged, the next few years were going to get even harder for her siblings. Their search for answers took them into their share of dangers. While her siblings would survive, not all of their friends and cousins would.

_"Can do,"_ Jack replied. Then more jovially, _"Give the Doctor a kiss for me."  
_ "Jack…" Viera hissed, feeling her face heat up immediately. It didn't matter if the Doctor couldn't hear the other end of the conversation; she couldn't even consider the concept without blushing uncontrollably. She turned around, not wanting to risk facing the Doctor's curious amusement. Jack just laughed at her. "Goodbye, Jack," she stated firmly.

_"Catch you later, Viera."_

He was still chuckling when she hung up.

"Everything alright?" the Doctor asked casually from behind her. Viera took a deep breath and prayed that her cheeks had cooled down before turning back around. He was still sprawled out on the floor, the sonic screwdriver in one hand, some spherical tool she didn't recognize in the other. A smudge of something black was smeared along one cheek and his hair was its usual mess.

"Everything's fine. Jack ran into my siblings," she explained unnecessarily. "Or rather, my siblings invaded Jack's base. But everything's fine." And it was fine, really. Her siblings were safe, if a bit mad to take on Torchwood. She was happy to have heard from Jack. And the fierce wave of homesickness eating away at her composure? She really ought to be used to that.

Viera didn't realize she'd begun to sink into her own melancholy thoughts until the Doctor quite suddenly leapt to his feet, startling her out of it.

"Well! The TARDIS is all fixed," the Doctor declared with the loud sort of giddiness he often used when _he_ was the one trying to dismiss old hurts or bury them deep. It was nearly indistinguishable from his normal, honestly happy glee, but she'd seen him use the same not long after losing Rose and Donna. "How about a driving lesson?"

_That_ was enough to distract her from her thoughts. "Me? Drive the TARDIS?"

The Doctor grinned manically, amused by her stunned expression. "You never know when it might come in handy, being able to make a quick escape if I'm incapacitated."

_Like I'd ever leave you behind_, Viera thought as she stepped closer to the controls, watching them warily. "This is going to be insanely complicated, isn't it."

"Oh, yes," he stated, far too pleased by the prospect. "Not to worry, though. We'll take things slow."

"Slow for you and slow for me might not mean the same thing," she stated. Soon the entirety of her concentration was wrapped up in trying to keep up with his explanations and memorizing which switches did what. Viera didn't have time to consider the family she'd lost for the rest of the day.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: A _**HUGE**_ thank you to Allonym, who beta-read this chapter as well as the next three. I _very_ much appreciate it. It was a big help.


	24. 6:1 The Prophesy

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Foreshadowing: "Moments That Define Us" by Kerry Muzzey**

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PART SIX – PLANET OF THE DEAD

Chapter One – The Prophesy

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have reached your final destination," the Doctor declared exuberantly. "Welcome home, the mighty 200!"

Viera breathed a sigh of relief as the double-decker bus descended out of the sky. There was jolt as the wheels hit the ground, then the bus finally, _finally_ stilled. _Thank God_. There was cheering and crying from inside the bus and outside, but Viera was quietly nursing a lingering headache. She stayed where she was, curled up in the corner of the front bus seat while the others disembarked. It took a bit of effort to muster up a smile for the other passengers as they left, but she was relieved to find that her nausea was quickly fading with the wormhole closed.

She'd spent the entire trip miserably sick. The energy of the wormhole had eaten away at the defenses of her particularly vulnerable mind, hence the migraine. The physical effects hadn't been any better; actually travelling _through_ the wormhole had torn through some of her power channels and unbalanced her body. The moment they'd landed in the desert on the other side, Viera had stumbled outside and promptly been sick all over the Doctor's shoes. He'd then stolen Nathan's tennis shoes for the duration of the trip.

It had not been a fun trip, even by the standards of the crazily dangerous adventures she usually got caught up in. Viera had stayed on the bus all day while the Doctor trekked across the desert, made friends with a couple of alien flies, nearly been eaten by metal-armored flying sting rays, and saved the day, all with a gorgeous, dark-haired aristocrat by his side.

Viera was not very fond of Christina. She told herself it was petty to dislike the woman simply because she had a suspicion that the Doctor hadn't exactly disliked her himself, but Viera couldn't help it. She'd been replaced, if only for one adventure. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling. And she didn't think the Doctor had missed her much, though he'd certainly been apologetic about getting her pulled through the wormhole.

"How are you feeling?" the Doctor asked gently, kneeling next to her seat.

She took a moment to consider that, noting that the achiness in her muscles had begun to ease as well. "Better," Viera replied.

"Ready to get off this ride?"

"Oh, yes," Viera stated. He grinned at her and helped her up, never protesting or moving away when she leaned against him unsteadily. They left the bus with his arm around her shoulders.

"Welcome back, everyone," a military officer was greeting the passengers outside. They were being scanned by scientists dressed all in white. "If you could step away from the bus, just to be safe… Fast as you can, thank you. It's just standard procedure; we just need to screen you, then you will all be taken for a debriefing."

The Doctor ushered Viera past them with barely a glace, flashing his psychic paper. "We don't count."

Viera glanced back to see Christina staring after them, held back by the military men. She managed to give her a slightly apologetic look before following the Doctor's lead. They approached a dark-skinned woman who held herself like a leader, standing still while the rest of UNIT moved around her.

"Doctor!" exclaimed a man with wire-rimmed glasses and a familiar voice.

"You must be Malcom," the Doctor greeted. Then Viera had to move back because the scientist was throwing his arms around the Doctor in an enthusiastic hug. She managed to bite back her laughter but Viera couldn't stop the grin that split her face as the Doctor gave her a helpless look.

"I love you," Malcom declared. "I love you. Oh, I love you. I. Love. You."

When it began to look like he was never going to let go, Captain Magambo finally sent the scientist away. "To your station, Doctor Taylor," she stated firmly.

Malcom shook himself visibly. "Yes ma'am." He let go of the Doctor and started away. He only made it a few steps before he had to turn and declare one last time, "I love you."

The Doctor returned his pointed finger with one of his own, the smile on his face somewhere between amused and fond.

"He's quite a character," Viera murmured, rather liking the odd man herself. He was enthusiastic, brilliant, and it was a bit hard not to feel affection for the man who'd helped saved them all. _Wonder if we'll ever run into him again_… She sidled up beside the Doctor again, taking his arm as the Captain turned her attention to him.

"Doctor, I salute you. Whether you like it or not." Captain Magambo snapped a sharp salute even as the Doctor grimaced and turned away. Viera wasn't sure whether it was modesty or a dislike of the military structure in general that prompted that. "Now do I take it we're safe from those things?"

"They'll start again. Generate a new doorway. Not their fault; it's a natural cycle," the Doctor explained with modest little shrug and a tilt of his head. "But I'll see if I can nudge the wormholes on to uninhabited planets. Closer to home though, Captain, those two lads," he motioned towards Nathan and Barclay still being examined over by the bus, "very good in a crisis. Nathan needs a job. Barclay's good with engines. You could do a lot worse. Privates Nathan and Barclay, UNIT's finest," he wheedled. He really was extraordinary. Viera found more often than not that it was the little things, like taking the time to improve the lives of new-found friends even after the rest of the world was safe, that impressed her most.

"I'll see what I can do," the Captain agreed. "And I've got something for you." She motioned behind her where the TARDIS was being unloaded from a truck by a few UNIT soldiers.

_Oh thank God,_ Viera thought as the Doctor made a delighted noise and trotted off towards the police box. _Home_.

"Better than a bus any day!" he declared. He ran a hand across the blue wood, greeting his ship happily. "Hello."

Viera leaned against the door, the soft song of the TARDIS soothing her headache and soreness immediately. She gave a happy, quiet hum of her own at the wave of relief as the Doctor finished talking to Captain Magambo.

"Now I've got three dead alien stingrays to clear up. Don't suppose you want to help with the paperwork?" the Captain asked.

"Not a chance!" the Doctor replied with a smile. He shook her hand warmly.

"Till we meet again, Doctor."

"I hope so," he agreed. Captain Magambo left to finish clearing up the chaos caused by the wormhole, the flying bus and the rays.

"So how're we going to keep the wormholes from opening on inhabited planets?" Viera asked once it was just the two of them again.

"Well… we'll have to go back to San Helios and mess with the frequencies of the swarm a bit," the Doctor brushed it off like it was nothing but at the same time looked a bit smug with the fact that he had it all figured out. Viera just shook her head.

"Oh, of course," she drawled, smiling. They were interrupted abruptly by Lady Christina's arrival. She bounded up grinning, with her attention completely focused on the Doctor.

"Little blue box! Just like you said! Right then, off we go! Show me the stars!" Christina exclaimed excitedly. "Come on, Doctor. You said it yourself: we're made for each other. We'd be a perfect team! The three of us," she added as an afterthought, her gaze flickering to the silent companion.

Viera felt a sudden burst of fear that that was exactly what she was going to become, an afterthought. The two adventurers would have the time of their lives running headlong in and out of danger together, and Viera would be left to tag along. It had been different with Donna. The red-head was as spirited and bold as Christina could ever hope to be, but she was compassionate to the core, even mothering on occasion. She'd been a fast friend. Donna had done her best to pull Viera out of her shell, to make her feel wanted. Somehow Viera didn't think she'd ever be more than a third wheel to Christina.

She was surprised and felt a little guilty about the vast wave of relief she felt when the Doctor stated quite firmly, "No."

He wasn't smiling, wasn't joking. Christina looked floored and Viera didn't feel much different. The aristocrat, aside from maybe needing a few lessons in selflessness, seemed exactly the sort of person the Doctor would enjoy having by his side while they ran for their lives.

"What?" Christina managed.

"I said no."

She wasn't going to accept that without protest. "But I saved your life. And you saved mine."

"So?" the Doctor asked, completely unmoved. Confusion swam through Viera's mind. He wasn't being cold or cruel, but he was obviously adamant. _Why?_

"We're surrounded by police. I'll go to prison," Christina protested.

"Yep."

"But you were right, it's not about the money, I only steal things for the adventure, and today, with you... I want more days like this," she appealed. "I want every day to be like this."

Viera could hardly blame her there, though it wasn't really the adventure that appealed to her so much as travelling with the Doctor, making a difference in the universe, having a purpose and a home.

The Doctor didn't reply, only watched her steadily.

"Why not?" Christina asked quietly.

"My box is full," he stated, brushing aside the question with a veil of humor, tapping the TARDIS gently with two knuckles. "No more room, sorry."

Then two strangers were there, police of some sort. One of them put handcuffs on Christina. The Doctor did nothing to stop them, though she watched him imploringly.

"Lady Christina de Souza! Oh, I've waited a long time to say this! I am arresting you on suspicion of theft. You do not have to say anything, etcetera! Dennison, take her away!" the man ordered. The two of them took Christina away. Viera shifted uncomfortably, but the Doctor just watched them go.

"I don't understand," she murmured quietly. "Why'd you say no?" Viera wondered if Christina had done something he disapproved of while they were off together, but the Doctor had seemed happy enough with her on the bus.

"I only take the best," he stated. A pleased smile darted across Viera's face. "'Sides we're already a team, the two of us." He tilted his head as he turned back to Viera. "Did you want her to come?"

"No," slipped out before Viera could think of a more tactful answer. She flushed when the Doctor gave a knowing grin. "But… is that really it?" she couldn't help but ask. "She seemed sort of…" She couldn't quite bring herself to say 'a kindred spirit' since it wasn't entirely true and made her feel rather jealous besides. "I wasn't under the impression you turned down a lot of adventurers."

The Doctor shrugged, trying and not quite reaching nonchalant. He was quiet a moment and Viera wondered whether he was trying to decide how best to get her off the subject or just trying to figure out how to phrase things.

When he replied it was unexpectedly forthright. "They keep getting hurt, everyone who travels with me. I've lost all of them. No more." Viera felt a shiver of worry and had to fight the urge to scramble into the TARDIS before he could try to leave her behind for her own good. The Doctor's eyes were dark with painful memories, but he still managed a small, almost bitter smile like he could see right through her. "I can't, _won't_ force you to leave… but you'd be safer staying here. Or going anywhere else. I could take you to any planet you wanted, any time you wanted, and set you up to live like a queen."

"Safer doesn't always mean better off," Viera countered warily. Relieved though she was, it still disturbed her to be having the conversation at all. She hoped her refusal wasn't going to provoke a more fervent argument. "I don't want to leave." _Not ever_.

The Doctor just sighed, looking frustrated and relieved all at once as he leaned back against the TARDIS. "Somehow I figured you'd say that."

"_You'd_ be safer staying in one place too," she said pointedly. _At least hypothetically. Of course in your case, trouble would probably find you anyways._ Viera kept those thoughts to herself; the theory was sound anyways. "That doesn't stop you from traveling the 'verse, getting yourself neck-deep in life-threatening situations every other day. Hypocrite," she added, tone slipping into warm teasing. She'd been a bit mad at him for scaring her at the beginning, but the anger was gone by the end of the sentence. Viera wanted to promise he'd never lose her, but that wasn't in her power to control. Sooner or later everyone left, everyone died. That was life. She'd just have to settle for fighting tooth and nail to stay with him as long as she could.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grimace.

Carmen and Lou walked by then, escorted by UNIT soldiers on their way to be debriefed. Carmen paused, watching the Doctor with a solemn expression.

"Doctor… you take care now," she stated gravely.

"You too," the Doctor replied, all smiles and friendliness again. "And you! Chops and gravy, lovely!"

"No, but you be careful," Carmen repeated, trying to explain. It couldn't be easy to translate the things she 'saw' into words that others would understand. "Because your song is ending, sir."

The Doctor went very, very still, his smile fading abruptly. Viera stood up straighter, glancing from him to Carmen with worried eyes. "What do you mean?" the Doctor asked.

"It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And then, Doctor… Oh but then…" Carmen looked so sad. Grim. "He will knock four times." Then she walked away with her husband, the Doctor staring after her, Viera staring at the Doctor.

_He looks… scared._

They were both silent for a long moment, then questions started spilling out of Viera's mouth. "What darkness? What song-" She cut off as the Doctor sharply held up his hand and turned away. She stepped closer, pressing against his side to peer around the box.

Christina was about to be put in a recently-arrived police car. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it towards her purposefully. There was a low whir, then Viera saw Christina's handcuffs pop open. The thief looked up in surprise, meeting the Doctor's gaze as he closed up the screwdriver and tucked it away.

She was in one door of the police car and out the other side in a heartbeat. Viera and the Doctor turned to watch as she raced past them, reaching the bus just in time to close the doors before the detective could get to them. The Doctor glanced at Viera and tilted his head in their direction; she followed him over, momentarily distracted.

McMillan was yelling and pounding on the doors. "I'll add resisting arrest!"

"I'd stand back if I were you," the Doctor suggested. The detective turned on him with a pointed finger and an accusation.

"And I'm charging you too! Aiding and abetting!"

"Yes," the Doctor agreed amiably, motioning to the TARDIS with his thumb. "I'll just step inside this police box and arrest myself." Viera gave a faint laugh and they retreated unhurriedly to the ship. By the time they reached the door Christina had the bus in the air. She paused above them, grinning at the Doctor.

"We could've been so good together," Christina stated.

"Christina," the Doctor chided. "We were!"

They watched her fly away, the other passengers from the bus cheering her on. Before the detective could make good on his threat to arrest him, the Doctor held the door open for Viera then followed her inside.

She turned to him immediately, picking up where he'd stopped her. "What did she mean, your song is ending? What does that mean?" Viera questioned, trying valiantly to ignore the itching suspicions building in the back of her mind.

The Doctor took a deep breath but didn't otherwise react. He stepped past her and began charting a new course on the ship's controls. His mask of calm was in place, which was frankly nearly as telling as if he'd shown his concerns openly. That casual tone wasn't fooling anyone. "I've been told before that my song was ending, that every song ends."

Viera put her hands on the console and leaned forward so she could see his face. "And by song ending you mean…"

"Could mean a lot of things I suppose," the Doctor suggested, giving her a sidelong glance. She frowned at him, for once not willing to be distracted. "Dying perhaps. Oh don't look so worried, I'm fairly hard to kill. I suppose it's just as likely it means I'll _almost_ die and regenerate."

She hadn't had time to stop and really question what regeneration meant, though they'd discussed it a bit when they met Jackson Lake. She'd had other questions to focus on, then Viera had rather forgotten in all the chaos of the Cyberking and the relief that came after. "When you regenerate… you're still you, right? Just different features?" The Doctor didn't reply right away so Viera anxiously pressed for an answer. "Right?"

"Not… entirely. Different quirks, different habits." He sounded almost lighthearted at first, but that faded quickly into solemnity. He was quiet a moment. When he continued his words were surprisingly honest. "My personality is rewritten. Not all of it, but… This me, everything I am… dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm…" The Doctor looked over at her alarmed expression and offered a half-hearted smile. "I'll still be the Doctor, all the same memories, the last Time Lord and all, but this version of me will be gone."

"Well… then… you're just not allowed to die." It was a ridiculous thing to say and Viera knew it, but her heart went cold at the thought of losing him in any way at all. She wanted _her_ version of the Doctor, not a stranger who happened to have his memories.

"Do my best," the Doctor replied, affection seeping into his smile.

They didn't discuss it again.

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_Beta-read by Allonym. (Thanks again!)_


	25. 7:1 Bad News & Empathy

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**The Call of the Rift: "Panic Attack" by Epic Score**

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PART SEVEN – CHILDREN OF EARTH

Chapter One – Bad News & Empathy

"Where are we now?" Viera asked curiously as the TARDIS' friendly whine faded into quiet.

"Cardiff," the Doctor stated.

"We visiting Jack?"

"Suppose we could." At Viera's confused look, the Doctor explained. "We're here to recharge. That Rift you fell through radiates the sort of power the TARDIS can convert into usable energy."

"Huh," Viera commented. "Alright. Let's go see what we can see." She trotted to the door, only pausing at the Doctor's voice.

"Take it slow. With the channels in you I'm not sure whether the Rift will affect you," he warned.

"Okay," Viera agreed. She braced herself as she opened the door and carefully stepped out into the sun.

It wasn't enough.

The world exploded inside her head. Power tore through the channels left by Nenavist, ripping apart any natural defenses she had. She was open to everything, to everyone. It was far worse than Nenavist had been. Every timeline in a million worlds was laid out before her, the presence of every life in them clamoring in her ears.

And over it all she was assaulted by shattering grief and guilt, fresh and raging and completely without end.

_Jack_.

Viera didn't realize she'd collapsed until she found herself half-sitting on the floor inside the TARDIS, the Doctor's arms around her. She was shaking and panting like she'd been running for her life, her throat sore from screams she didn't remember voicing.

"It's alright. It's alright. I've got you," the Doctor murmured, worry and guilt written across his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be that bad. I'm so sorry."

"What happened?" she whispered, struggling to pull her thoughts together.

"The Rift was too strong. It overwhelmed you," he explained grimly. "You started screaming."

"No." Viera shook her head then hissed as she found that to be a very bad idea. Her mind felt raw and a migraine followed. "Not just the Rift. Jack. Something happened. I could _feel_ him. I could feel everyone but Jack was so loud…" She shuddered at the memory of it. "He's grieving. Something happened. Something awful."

The Doctor frowned. "Suppose I'll have to visit him after all."

"Isn't there any way I can come?" Viera asked, her head mostly clear already. "I need to come." She had no desire to face the Rift again, but she didn't like the thought of staying behind when she _knew_ how badly Jack was hurting. Never mind that there was probably nothing she could do to help him anyways; the least she could do was be there for him.

"You'd be safer here," the Doctor replied, his indulgent tone indicating that he already knew she'd insist.

"But there's a way?"

He smiled crookedly and loosened his grip on Viera so she could sit up fully. "Stay here," the Doctor sighed with affected exasperation. He settled Viera against the door then ran back into the depths of the TARDIS. She tried to catch her breath, wishing she'd asked him to grab some sort of migraine medicine as well, though the pain was fading quickly. Viera could see him coming back up the hallway when she heard the lock turn and the door she was leaning on tried to open, shoving her forwards.

"Careful there!" the Doctor called, pushing the door shut again. "Give us a minute!" He knelt next to Viera, who was feeling quite well enough to be disgruntled at being pushed around. The Doctor grinned at her expression, relieved that she wasn't in agony any longer. He took her right hand and slid a simple gold ring onto the ring finger. "This is a bio-damper. It was meant to hide the wearer from

outside scans but with a little fiddling it should hide everything outside from the wearer."

"Should," Viera caught.

The Doctor's expression slid into seriousness. "If it's too much, if it doesn't work I'll pull you back inside the TARDIS' shields," he promised.

She nodded and offered a trusting smile, fingering the ring. He helped her to her feet then opened the door. His smile froze in place at seeing Jack on the other side.

"Hello Jack," the Doctor greeted, cheery grin fading into something kinder.

"Doctor," Jack replied. His carefully blank expression faltered into vulnerability for just a moment before steadying again. His gaze shifted to Viera, who was peeking around the side of the door. "Viera. We heard screaming."

"Everything's fine," the Doctor assured casually.

It was then that Viera noticed Gwen a few yards behind him. Then her eyes tracked to the devastation beyond them. It looked like a bomb had gone off underground.

"Ianto?" Viera had asked before she'd even considered it. She didn't have to step outside the TARDIS' shields to see the grief that question brought. She blinked back tears and looked away. "I'm sorry."

"What happened, Jack?" the Doctor asked solemnly.

"Nothing you can change now." Jack's expression was hard, a wall shored up against emotion. "If you really want to help get your sonic over here and see if there's anything worth salvaging," he stated, nodding his head towards the wreckage of Torchwood.

The Doctor simply nodded and followed him away from the TARDIS. He glanced back as Viera took a careful step outside the shields, looking ready to dart back and pull her inside if she needed it. Viera felt a bit dizzy, but it faded the longer she stood outside the TARDIS' shields. She could feel the Rift at the edges of her senses, a dull ache rather than the overwhelming flood it had been. She smiled briefly to let him know it was alright.

Viera turned her attention to Gwen, letting the men walk ahead. The two women watched two scanning the debris just out of earshot.

"What happened, Gwen?" Viera asked gently.

"Aliens," she stated, voice shaking despite her efforts. "People. A government group ordered Jack's assassination. That's how the Torchwood Hub got blown up. Jack too, but he came back. He always comes back. We ran, my husband and I and Ianto-" Gwen had to stop and take a breath to loosen the words threatening to seize up in her throat. "It's a long story. The 456 wanted ten percent of our children, the Earth's children. We refused. Jack and Ianto went to them and told them no. They… the aliens released a virus…" Gwen was gasping softly, tears streaming from her eyes. Viera laid a hand on her back but she hardly seemed to feel it. "They died. They both died, but Jack came back and Ianto…" She swallowed hard, fighting her emotions. Viera waited silently, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry," was all she could manage.

Gwen forced herself to continue. "The government gave in. They were gathering the children, using the military to take them from the schools, from their families. They were just going to turn them over. 325,000 in Great Britain alone. _Millions_ of children handed over to the 456 to be wired up and used like drugs." She turned pleading eyes on Viera. "Jack had to. It was the only way. He didn't have a choice."

"Had to what?" Viera asked, feeling something inside go cold at the pain and horror and grief in Gwen's eyes. Gwen's voice grew quiet and numb as she finished explaining.

"They were using the children to send us messages. Jack and the others realized we could turn the same signal against them, killing them. But they had to use a child to transmit it. A child who wouldn't survive." Gwen's eyes slid shut, the words barely coming out in a choked whisper. "Jack had a grandson. Steven." She couldn't finish. She didn't have to. '_He didn't have a choice_' echoed through Viera's mind.

_Oh God, Jack_. It wasn't fair, the burden Jack had taken, all he'd lost. Jack was a good man and a good friend and it wasn't _fair._ And losing Ianto, sweet, brave Ianto on top of it all. Viera hadn't gotten much chance to know him, but she'd caught bits and pieces from Jack during various phone calls. They'd saved the Earth together; Ianto had stood with them on the day the Earth was stolen by the Daleks. She'd liked him, for all that they were barely more than acquaintances. Now she'd never get a chance to know him better.

_All the times we show up last minute to save the day… Why weren't we here? We should have been here. We should have stopped this. All the people we save… Why not Ianto? Why not Jack?_

She couldn't even imagine having someone she loved die in her arms. And then having to make a choice between your kin, an innocent boy and millions of other children… Viera reached up a hand to rub at the ache in her chest, but her palm landed on the pendant beneath her shirt instead. Viera froze.

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_Beta-read by Allonym. _


	26. 7:2 Chránený

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**The Stone of Sacrifice: "We Owe You Our Lives" by Epic Score**

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PART SEVEN – CHILDREN OF EARTH

Chapter Two - Chránený

_I can change this._

The thought echoed through her mind with all the intensity of dying star and everything clicked into place. The Obetovat Stone was made to make miracles happen. The victims had to have the shard in them before death, but Viera had a time machine at her disposal. Well, _the Doctor _had a time machine, but under the circumstances she was perfectly willing to commandeer it. She'd have to get the shards in them without anyone realizing it to avoid messing up the timeline, but she had a way around that too.

And as far as power sources went, they didn't get much stronger than the one that had nearly made her head implode mere minutes before.

"Viera?" Gwen asked carefully. Viera realized she must have looked quite odd standing there frozen, lost in thought.

"Excuse me for a minute," she stated before running to the Doctor. She'd have to get him out of the way. Viera was pretty sure he didn't know she _had_ the Obetovat, let alone knew, theoretically, how to use it.

The Doctor was rambling on casually about something unimportant as he waited for Jack to be ready to talk about more important things. He stopped mid-sentence as she interrupted.

"Can I talk to you?" Viera asked quietly, pulling at the Doctor's sleeve. Jack turned away to continue picking half-heartedly through the rubble as the Doctor nodded. She walked back just enough so that their whispers wouldn't reach Jack.

"Maybe you should take him out for a drink. Somewhere he can talk, or be distracted," Viera suggested, looking pointedly at the ruins of Torchwood. "Somewhere _away_ from here." She tried very hard to act like it was concern for Jack's state of mind and not a need to get them away from the Rift that was driving her. She was rubbish at lying, but it helped that she was honestly concerned for Jack. It was probably something she'd suggest anyways, though if she wasn't making her own plans she'd probably have gone with them.

"You're staying here?" the Doctor asked, somewhere along the same train of thought.

"I want to talk to Gwen a bit," Viera stated. That was true enough. "And I think maybe he just needs _you_ right now."

The Doctor glanced back at Jack and nodded slowly. "Alright." He turned back to Viera. "Stay out of trouble. Don't go wandering off," he ordered.

"_I_ am not the trouble magnet here," Viera reminded him, avoiding making any promises of the sort. The Doctor quirked a brief smile and wandered back over to Jack. The two men talked a moment then began walking away without looking back. Gwen came up behind her as she watched them go.

"What's going on? Where are they going?"

"They're going somewhere to talk." Viera took a deep breath and turned to Gwen. "I need your help. I might have a way to get Ianto and Steven back," she stated, rushing out the words with an upheld hand to keep Gwen from interrupting. "It's risky and a bit mad, but I think it might work. We have to do it before the Doctor and Jack get back. I'm not sure the Doctor would let me do this. I'm kind of messing around with the timeline." That wasn't really the problem; she wasn't actually breaking any time travelling rules. She didn't think the Doctor would let her put her plan into action because of the likeliness of her killing herself. But Viera didn't want to tell Gwen that. "Besides, if it doesn't work, we won't have gotten Jack's hopes up. We have to hurry. I can answer your questions later, but right now I just need you to do as I ask. Will you help me?"

Gwen stood silent, shell-shocked for a moment. Viera held her breath and met her questioning gaze with steady calm. Then Gwen shook her head to clear it.

"Of course I'll help you. If there's any chance…" Gwen trailed off, thinking of all that had been lost.

"Alright. I'm going to move the TARDIS closer to the Rift, into the rubble just there," she explained, moving closer to the wreckage to point at an area deep beneath the surface that had been mostly cleared out. "I need you to go get the bodies. I don't care how you do it, steal them if you have to, but I need them _now_." Gwen looked flustered, but nodded and turned to head to her car.

"And Gwen!" Viera called after her. "Hurry!" Gwen began to run.

Viera jogged back to the TARDIS. She _was_ moving it over the Rift, but first she had to take a little trip. Viera stepped inside the TARDIS, letting its low soothing hum help calm her nerves.

"I'm going to need your help with this," she murmured, placing a hand on the controls. "This has to be done perfectly and you know how bad my aim is." She'd learned the basics of piloting the TARDIS, but even the Doctor had trouble getting it to land exactly where and when he wanted. Viera was depending on the fact that the TARDIS always seemed to get them where they _needed_ to be.

"Alright," Viera coaxed. "I need you to take me to Martha." She flipped what she was _pretty_ sure were the right switches, pulled freed the handbrake, and the TARDIS took off with a familiar whine and rumble.

It was a short trip. The TARDIS landed without more than its usual jolt and Viera opened the door to peek out cautiously. The sound of running footsteps made her tense, but she relaxed again when Martha rounded the corner.

"Thank you," she sighed, patting the frame of the door. She stepped out, closing it behind her.

"Viera! What's going on? Where's the Doctor?" Martha questioned, immediately worried at his absence.

"The Doctor's fine," Viera assured. "He's with Jack. I just… I need a favor."

Martha looked a little wary, not sure what to think of the companion who'd borrowed the TARDIS for her own devices. "What kind of favor?"

Viera tried to sound confident and sure but wasn't sure how well she succeeded. "I need a tranquilizer gun, with dosages for an adult male and a child. I'll bring them back and explain everything then."

"Why don't you explain now?" Martha suggested, arms crossing. Viera nearly said that she was in too much of a hurry, remembering only as she opened her mouth that she had a time machine. What would it hurt to take a minute to explain?

So she did, as briefly and precisely as she could manage, which somehow still ended up complicated and convoluted.

"Right," was all Martha had to say. "I'd best get you that gun then. I'll be right back." Then Martha was off, running back down the street to the UNIT outpost where she'd been working when she heard the sound of the TARDIS.

Viera waited impatiently by the ship, running through her plan over and over in her head, trying to prepare herself. There were a lot of things that could go wrong. She was messing with incredibly powerful forces; the Rift, the Time Vortex, the Obetovat. She ran a few worst case scenarios through her head and spent the rest of the time praying fervently.

Martha returned promptly and handed Viera a gun. She held a small case which she opened to reveal six darts, three with blue-feathered ends and three with green.

"The blue are the right dosage for a man Ianto's size. The green ones should be safe for a child," Martha explained. She shut the case with a snap and handed it over.

"It's dangerous, isn't it," Martha clarified.

Viera shrugged uncomfortably. "Isn't it always?" she asked, trying for flippancy.

Martha wasn't going to be swayed. "What are the chances this is going to kill you? I mean, couldn't someone else do it? Jack, for instance. He's immortal, you know."

"What?" Viera blinked rapidly as she tried to absorb that, then shook her head. She'd seen Jack wake up after she thought he was dead, but things had been rather crazy at the time; Viera had figured she'd just missed his pulse or something. She hadn't taken much time to think about it.

But that was beside the point. "No. He can't. The Obetovat doesn't work on life-force precisely, though it needs a soul to trigger it so it can't just be hooked up to a machine. It needs vast amounts of power. Jack doesn't have any way to take the energy of the Rift into himself. I'm… uniquely qualified. It has to be me."

Worry, sorrow and respect mingled in Martha's expression. She didn't argue anymore; Martha understood risk and sacrifice as well as anyone Viera had met. She mused briefly on whether that was a product of being a companion to the Doctor or a prerequisite. "Let me know how it goes. Good luck," Martha said simply.

"Thank you," Viera said sincerely. They shared a brief smile, then Viera stepped back into the TARDIS.

"Steven first," she murmured, trying to picture Jack's grandson in her head. She used the TARDIS' computer to look up his home address, then aimed the time machine at a few months in the past, half a block away.

Viera landed again without any trouble. She left the TARDIS with the small gun tucked up her jacket sleeve, already loaded with a green dart. The extras were in her pocket.

She took a moment to find her bearings, then headed up the street. Viera felt terribly vulnerable sneaking through the neighbor's backyard, but nobody stopped her. It didn't look like they were home.

She found Steven playing in his backyard alone. Viera could hear what was probably his mother talking on the phone inside. She'd have to be quick and silent. Viera took careful aim, said a prayer, and pulled the trigger. The dart hit the little boy between the shoulder blades, and he crumpled to the grass without a sound. Viera glanced again at the windows before rising from her hiding place in the bushes to go to him.

Kneeling in the grass, Viera gently turned him over. He looked innocent and so very young, warm and breathing as he lay there. The thought of him cold and dead back in her time made Viera feel sick.

"Please let this work," she whispered, pulling the pendant out from where it hung hidden beneath her shirt. She found the tiny catch that released the first jeweled shard and pulled aside Steven's shirt to place it over his head. The sharp bit of metal slid into his flesh effortlessly. For a brief moment the skin over his heart burned with a symbol Viera had seen in her research. It meant Chránený: protected. Then the brand was gone and there was no sign of the shard. Viera wouldn't have been sure it worked except that she could feel the faintest echo of a second heartbeat from the pendant.

She left Steven in his yard and fled back to the TARDIS.

"One down, one to go," she said, resting against the control station. Viera caught her breath and flipped a few more switches, aiming at Ianto's apartment.

The TARDIS landed in an alleyway outside the apartment building. It was late, dark and quiet, but Viera was pretty sure that Ianto would still be working. There were several apartments with lights on but there was no one in the hallways as Viera slipped inside. She found the correct apartment number and used her screwdriver to open the lock and step inside.

Viera felt like a stalker, waiting in the dark like that, but Ianto would understand if she ever got a chance to explain it to him.

She waited for nearly half an hour just sitting in the dark praying fervently. Finally Viera heard the key in the lock and a hand reached in to flip on the light. She pulled the trigger on the gun the moment she saw his shoulder, desperate to keep from being seen. He crumpled just as quickly as the boy had, fortunately avoiding hitting anything on his way down. Viera waited a moment, but there were no shouts from the hallway, no sign anyone had seen. She finally crept to the door to check on Ianto. He was out but breathing fine. Viera dragged him inside and shut the door before pulling loose another shard from the pendant.

She knelt and pulled aside Ianto's shirt, fingering the fragment.

"Jack needs you to live," Viera murmured, sliding the jeweled shard into his chest. "I wish I could show you just how much." The Chránený brand burned and disappeared against his skin. She hesitated a moment longer, watching one of the defenders of Earth breathe in and out slowly.

"I'm going to save you. I promise," Viera whispered. Then she stood and slipped out of the door, locking it behind her.

When she got back to the TARDIS Viera set it for two minutes after she'd left the ruins of Torchwood. Viera, likely with a little help from the TARDIS itself, managed to land exactly where she'd wanted in the depths of what had been the Torchwood offices. She had to crawl over a few things as she got out, swaying a bit dizzily from being so close to the Rift once more.

Gwen hadn't had time to get back, so Viera cleared space as she waited. She made absolutely certain that the area where the bodies would lay was set exactly in-between the TARDIS and the Rift. She'd need a careful balance of both if she were going to have any chance of making things work. Viera spent the rest of her time in the TARDIS programing a failsafe, just in case. It wasn't complicated, she didn't know much of anything about programing, but the TARDIS was clever enough to fill in the gaps. It would be enough to stop things from going out of control. She couldn't risk the world just to save two lives.

Risking her own life was a different matter altogether, Viera considered as she struggled with the programs keeping the Time Vortex sealed. If things went wrong she'd be leaving the Doctor alone. He'd lost so many people already… Viera felt sick at the thought but couldn't find a way around it. She had to try. He'd find someone new; he always did. If Ianto didn't come back maybe Jack would travel with him for a while. At least he'd be a friend the Doctor wouldn't have to worry about losing.

Viera had left the door of the TARDIS open, so she heard Gwen's return when she called her name.

"Down here!" Viera shouted, stepping out of the ship. Gwen peeked over the edge of the top then disappeared again.

"Rhys! Give me a hand!" Viera heard Gwen shouting. She used the rubble to _very_ carefully climb to the top. Gwen and a man who must have been her husband were struggling with a large black body bag. She didn't ask how they'd gotten it or protest at Rhys' involvement. They needed what help they could get.

"Careful," Viera warned as she crawled out. "The rubble shifts." She left the two of them to sort their way down and went to the open van. A smaller bag lay there. _Steven._ Viera took a deep breath and lifted the body into her arms.

It was a slow trip down, following Gwen and Rhys. Viera could only hope the Doctor kept Jack out until nightfall at least. The sky was turning colors with the dying of the sun by the time they'd gotten rid of the bags and laid out the bodies in the proper place.

"This is so wrong," Rhys groaned quietly to Gwen. "_Now_ are you going to tell me why the hell we raided the morgue?" Gwen just shushed him.

Viera studied the set up a moment longer before turning to the couple. "I think you two should wait upstairs," she stated. "Just in case things get… intense down here. It'll be easier if all I have to concentrate on are these two." Distractions could be _very_ bad in the middle of such a delicate process.

Gwen looked like she wanted to protest. She gave a short nod of agreement instead and pushed Rhys back towards the path up. Viera watched them go silently until they'd reached the surface.

"Gwen!" she called. The other woman turned. "If this doesn't work… Tell the Doctor…" There were so many things to say but Viera couldn't quite find the words, let alone hand them over to someone else to deliver. So she settled on something simple. "I'm glad I met him. And I'm sorry, but I _had_ to try."

Gwen nodded solemnly and Viera turned away. She knelt between the bodies and placed a palm over each silent heart, feeling the silent shards beneath.

"Please work," Viera whispered, breathless and shaking with the weight of what she was about to attempt. "Please, _please_ work."

Without removing her hand from Ianto's chest, Viera managed to wriggle the dampening ring to the tip of her finger. She took a deep breath, braced herself, then slid it off and reached for the Time Vortex before the Rift could overtake her. One of the TARDIS' panels slid open an inch and golden energy poured out.

It felt a bit like drowning, being overwhelmed by the tide of power. Viera nearly let go in those first few seconds. She almost _wanted_ to let go. There was so much power, so much knowledge right at her fingertips. All she would have to do was let it seep in.

It was the missing heartbeats beneath her palms that saved her, reminding her of purpose. Two lives to save. Just two. Such important lives to people who loved them. Two hearts that needed to beat again. It helped her focused.

When she'd drawn in all the energy of the Time Vortex she could bear, Viera opened herself up to the power of the Rift.

It was a bit like trying to hold onto an umbrella in the middle of a hurricane. There was so much power, wild and chaotic and destructive. The sort of power that tore through the walls of worlds and dimensions and time itself. She'd have been lost to it, torn apart herself if not for the more ordered, purposeful power of the TARDIS' Time Vortex. It was meant to reach across time and space as well, but intended to travel _through_ it, not tear it apart. It held Viera together.

She could feel the both of them beginning to burn her up, tearing through the channels in her body till they were scorched anew. It took everything she had to corral the power into the Obetovat Stone and gasp the words that were etched into the metal of the pendant.

"Obet duse," she gritted past clinched teeth, "vzdal liecit dusu."

In the channels of her mind Viera could see the gold light of the Time Vortex and the pale blue of the Rift bleed into the vivid green brilliance of the stone until it all turned white. The moment it did the whole world seemed to snap into place. The pendant connected with the shards in Ianto and Steven with bright streams of light that travelled down the scarred channels in her arms. Viera left herself open as the power flowed between them. She felt them stir, their bodies healing as their lives revived, souls freed from the shards that had held them in place.

In that brief moment when all three were alive and awake and connected, Viera knew they could see her soul; part of the cost of the Obetovat Stone. Then the ritual was complete and Viera's mind went dark.

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_Beta-read by Allonym. _

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Where did Viera get her sonic screwdriver? I'm not actually sure. I had this set after Waters of Mars and Wedding Bells originally and planned for her to find reason to get it during one of those, but I got impatient and wanted to post this now (as it's been written for quite some time). So perhaps she got it during one of those in-between adventures that we don't get to see or perhaps she found an old one buried somewhere in the wardrobe.


	27. 7:3 Reverberations

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**7:3 – Relief & Friendship: "Bells" by Helen Jane Long**

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PART SEVEN – CHILDREN OF EARTH

Chapter Three – Reverberations

Everything hurt. It wasn't sharp or unbearable, but a deep constant ache had settled into every cell of Viera's body. Heavens, she was tired. Viera couldn't remember her body ever having felt so heavy and drained. She shifted slightly to try to ease the pain, grumbling when the movement only made her dizzy.

"Take it easy," came the Doctor's voice. Viera relaxed against the bed at the sound, then pried one eye open to find him. He was sitting at her bedside, looking very stern. For a brief second she was worried something had gone wrong, that it hadn't worked. Viera tried to sit up with a jerk; the world spun and her strength gave out and suddenly she was on her back again, panting softly.

"Easy, _easy,_" the Doctor chided gently, one hand curled around hers, the other on her shoulder holding her down. Not that she had the strength to try that again at the moment.

The panic left as abruptly as it'd come. She could _feel_ their heartbeats, Ianto's and Steven's. They echoed faintly in her chest despite the fact that she wasn't wearing the pendant. Viera could see it lying on her bedside table. Relieved, she turned her attention back to the Doctor.

He looked like he hadn't slept in some time. Viera immediately felt guilty for worrying him.

"_You_ are in trouble," he stated very calmly.

"Am I?" Viera tried for casual but wary chagrin seeped in. She hated getting into trouble, at least with the people she cared about, and as controlled as the Doctor was at the moment, he really was angry.

"Very _deep _trouble. You went behind my back, stole the TARIDS, risked the collapse of reality, used an ancient stone with a very sordid history you couldn't possibly completely understand and nearly killed yourself to do it." He still wasn't yelling, but the low seriousness in his voice kept her from meeting his eyes. She looked down at their joined hands rather than at the Doctor himself.

"Worked though," Viera pointed out quietly.

"How do you know?" he asked. There was the curiosity she'd been missing. Viera tried not to smile least she remind him of his anger.

"Can feel them, their hearts beating. They're both fine." She heard the Doctor sigh. Viera glanced at him to find that whatever anger had been there was faded, but he still looked grave. Tired. She rather thought he'd like to celebrate her success but felt the need to make sure she understood the seriousness of what she'd done. She'd felt that way with her younger sibling a time or two.

"That could have killed you," he scolded, pain at the prospect darkening his eyes.

"Yes." Personally Viera thought the risk was what made it work. Sacrifice had always been a powerful thing.

"You could have opened the Rift," he continued grimly.

"No. I couldn't have," Viera denied quietly. "I programed a failsafe into the TARDIS."

He pinned her with dark eyes. "What kind of failsafe?"

She grimaced, knowing he wasn't going to like it. "If I lost control, if the Rift or the Time Vortex started to get away from me, the TARDIS was to shut it down.

"Killing you in the process."

Viera shrugged on shoulder, not quite meeting his eyes. "'S better than ending the world." The look on his face made her feel guilty all over for nearly leaving him. She pulled their joined hands onto her stomach so she could take his hand in both of hers. "I'm not suicidal. I never want to leave you, you know. But I had to try. You get that right? I _had_ to try."

The Doctor relented with a sigh, a wry little smile twisting up the sides of his mouth. "I suppose you wouldn't be you if you hadn't."

"Besides," Viera said, trying to lighten the mood, "it worked, didn't it? Everyone's alive, the Rift is stable… stable-ish. The TARDIS is singing."

"Hmm," the Doctor conceded reluctantly. "But you are _not_ to do that again. Ever. I can't believe you hijacked my TARDIS!"

Viera had to smile at that. "I brought her back," she defended. "Not a scratch on her."

The Doctor shook his head, finally giving up on his half-hearted efforts to lecture her. "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted," she admitted. "How long was I out?"

"You're lucky you woke up at all, overloading your power channels like that," the Doctor scolded. "You were out most of the week."

"What? Really?" Good heavens, no wonder the Doctor looked worn out. He'd have been worrying about her the whole time. Viera's expression turned apologetic.

"Six and half days," he clarified, tightening his grip on her hand momentarily. He'd missed her. "I'd have taken you back to the healing center if there was anything they could have done to help, but you had to heal on your own." The Doctor studied her carefully. "Do you need more rest?"

"I think I've slept enough," Viera replied. She was tired, but she felt the need to move now that she was awake.

"Well, if you're up to it, there's a few people who'd like to see you." Her confusion must have showed because he was looking at her with that look of amusement he got when he understood something she didn't and was waiting for her to catch up. "Torchwood has been a bit worried about you as well."

"We're still in the present? Their present?" Viera questioned.

"No point in going anywhere while you were out," the Doctor stated honestly.

"I'd best shower if I'm going to be seeing anybody," Viera muttered after a minute. She sat up more slowly, grateful for the Doctor's hand behind her back as the world swayed around her. Her head was pounding. "Don't suppose you have any aspirin?"

"I'm sorry," he stated with a shake of his head. "You're at your limit for pain meds for the moment. You'll have to wait another hour." He _did_ sound sorry, more bothered by her pain than he ever would be by his own.

"I'll live," Viera brushed it aside, shifting to the edge of the bed. It was her own fault anyways, and a price she'd gladly pay. She slid off carefully but still had to rely on the Doctor's grip to keep her upright the first few moments. He helped her to the shower, one arm around her waist as she clutched at his other arm.

"I can manage from here," Viera assured him as he let go and stood there watching her worriedly. "Really."

"I'm leaving the door open," he warned reluctantly. "Shout if you start feeling faint. The last thing you need is a fall and a bump on the head." The Doctor pointed a finger at her sternly. As much as she wished he'd relax a little, his concern warmed her to the core.

"I'll be fine," Viera promised.

And she was fine, though she felt like she'd run a marathon or two by the time she was finished with the shower and dressing herself. Viera was also getting a bit desperate for pain killers. _Everything_ hurt. The dull ache had become a more insistent throbbing. When she'd pulled on everything but her socks, Viera gave up and sat down beside the shower.

"Doctor!" she called. She heard footsteps immediately and wondered if he'd been hovering around the corner the entire time.

"Did you fall? Are you alright?" he asked, dropping to his knees beside her and lifting her chin to study her eyes.

"I'm fine. I didn't fall. I just can't get my socks on," Viera stated, frowning petulantly at the annoying bits of cloth.

The Doctor sighed, amusement and relief replacing his concern. "Your socks. Well, that I can fix." He slid them on without complaint then returned his full attention to studying her expression. "Still feeling alright? Do you want to go back to bed?"

She avoided the first question. "After all this trouble? Can't back out now," Viera stated, smiling softly. "And I want to see them for myself."

The Doctor nodded but didn't immediately move. He studied her a moment longer, then slipped his arms beneath her knees and back. "Hold on," he stated, lifting her carefully. Viera pulled in a startled breath but quickly settled into his steady grasp, wrapping one arm behind his shoulder. She relaxed even as she protested half-heartedly.

"I _can_ walk."

"Can you?" the Doctor asked, a crooked smile in place over his concern.

Viera slightly shrugged one shoulder. "Eh," she hedged, not entirely sure she could. Being carried seemed like a far better option anyways. She leaned her head against his shoulder and listened to one of his hearts beat along with the faint echo of the second.

A moment later they were at the door.

Viera hadn't paid much attention to her surroundings the last time she'd been there, but she recognized Ianto's apartment. The room they stepped into was tastefully simple and clean. Everything was very well organized, but it still looked like a home. Warm colors and cozy-looking couches helped with the effect, as did the photographs around the living room.

"Anybody home?" the Doctor called loudly. There was a clatter as something dropped in the sink, then Jack came bounding out of the kitchen.

"Hello—" Viera's soft voice rose in a surprised squeak as Jack snatched her from the Doctor's arms. He swung her around only once, for which she was dizzily grateful, then stopped to hug her tightly.

"Easy, Jack," the Doctor cautioned.

"Thank you," Jack murmured. She'd never heard his voice so rough with emotion, not when they'd faced the Daleks, not when Donna and the TARDIS had fallen, not even when they'd showed up to find Ianto gone and he'd been fighting so hard to keep his composure. There was nothing guarded about him at the moment. Viera relaxed into his embrace, hugging him back as tightly as her shaking arms could manage.

"You're welcome," Viera returned softly. She caught movement over Jack's shoulder and glanced up to see Ianto walking out of the kitchen, drying his hands with a towel. He was a wonderful sight to behold, warm and smiling and _alive_. After seeing him lying cold and still in an open body bag…

Jack either sensed Ianto's presence or knew he'd been following close behind, because as soon as Viera had registered Ianto's arrival, Jack put her down and turned to grin at him. Thankfully he kept his arm around her, keeping her upright. On her other side the Doctor moved closer to steady her.

"Sleeping Beauty finally woke up," Jack pointed out, grinning so hard Viera wondered if his cheeks hurt.

"I see that," Ianto replied dryly. His dark eyes were warm with gratitude. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Viera replied automatically. The Doctor gave her a stern look and her smile turned a bit sheepish. "A little tired," she admitted. "But fine."

Concern flickered over their faces. "Sit. Please," Ianto urged.

"Why didn't you say so?" Jack chided good naturedly. Viera had little warning before he swept her into his arms again and carried her to the couch. He set her down and sat on the love seat positioned next to the couch. The Doctor claimed the spot next to her with a shameless grin and his arms stretched across the back of the couch. He seemed right at home.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Ianto asked. "Milk? Hot chocolate?"

"Not tea? Coffee?" Jack asked.

"She doesn't drink either."

"How do you know that?" Jack asked. It was a fair question. It wasn't as though they'd ever spent time together before.

Viera resisted the urge to grimace. "How much of that do you remember?" she asked Ianto quietly. The slightly apologetic look on his face was answer enough. She'd rather hoped they'd forget the blur of information once all was said and done. Viera feared being seen completely almost more than she longed to be understood. Nothing she could do about it though. Not that it hadn't been completely worth it anyways.

"The Obetovat requires soul-baring," the Doctor stated. Viera gave him a surprised look. His own expression turned wry. "You went into a coma. Did you really think I wouldn't go through your research to figure out _exactly_ what you'd done?"

She winced slightly at that, assuming that meant that he'd found the rather gruesome list of deaths caused by people trying to use the Obetovat without the proper genetic energy. She knew how lucky she was, but Viera would rather not have had the Doctor knowing exactly how big a risk she'd taken with her own life.

Jack was curious. "What do you mean by soul-baring?" he questioned.

Viera fidgeted with the fringe of her blanket. "My thoughts, my emotions, my memories, everything that makes me, _me_ got laid for them to see." No secrets, no hiding. Every fault, every insecurity, every hope and fear and doubt… Ianto and Steven knew them all. In Ianto's case it was embarrassing and a bit gratifying, as he didn't seem to think any less of her for it. In Steven's case… Viera hoped he was alright; that'd be a lot for a kid to take in. "'S part of what unlocks the stone. I don't really understand why."

Ianto slipped away and soon returned with a warm mug of cocoa, made exactly to her tastes.

"Thanks," Viera murmured, accepting it with a shy smile. She studied him as he sat on the love seat next to Jack. "How are _you_ doing? No side effects or anything?" Viera asked carefully. He _looked_ fine, but she wanted to be sure.

Jack leaned back and slung his arm behind Ianto, as though needing the contact after the reminder of losing him. Ianto gave an easy smile. "Nothing like that. I feel great," he assured.

"We had a doctor, a regular doctor," Jack clarified with a grin, "check him out. _The_ Doctor too. They both gave him a clean bill of health.

"And Steven?" Viera asked. A shadow flickered through Jack's expression, but he kept smiling.

"The same," he stated.

"But?" Viera pressed in concern, her hazel eyes shifting to the others to find that they looked sympathetic but not exactly sorrowful.

Jack shrugged it off. "His mother's understandably ticked at me. She won't let him near me, but we talked a little before she took him." Jack's expression turned a bit bemused. "I was surprised by how well he handled things. He's so young… and he was awfully mature about the whole thing. Said he… said he forgave me." For just a moment Jack looked heartbreakingly vulnerable. Then it was gone again, shoved beneath a shaky smile. He scrubbed his free hand through his hair, the other curled firmly around Ianto's shoulder. "I suppose that's all explained by the gave he's got twenty-some years of knowledge floating around in his head." Viera's sudden rush of worry and guilt must have shown on her face because Jack looked startled and rushed to reassure her. "Not that I'm complaining. He's _alive_. A little extra maturity is hardly the end of the world."

"Really, he'll be fine," the Doctor added. Viera turned to study him and was relieved to find he looked as sincere as he sounded. She didn't want him to lie to keep her from worrying about the little boy. Though, as concerned as he was with her understanding the consequences of her actions, she probably needn't have worried about him sugar-coating things. "I looked him over myself. His mind will suppress anything he's not ready to handle at this age. He's a perfectly normal little boy. Just… a bit wiser than his peers perhaps."

Viera made herself relax, taking their word for it. She gave a sudden grin as the Doctor poked her in the side, biting back giggles. She elbowed him in retaliation, then settled against his side and took a long sip of cocoa.

She nearly spit it out again when the doorbell startled her.

"Oops, sorry," Jack said, jumping to his feet. "I'll get it," he declared, ignoring the fact that it was Ianto's apartment.

"Gwen was going to stop by," Ianto explained. He gave an self-conscious smile, but he still seemed pleased, touched even. "I've had more people in and out of my apartment this last week than I have all the other time I've lived here combined." He smirked a little in anticipation of Viera's embarrassment. "My sister, by the way, sends her undying devotion."

Viera blushed again but was saved from replying by Jack throwing open the door.

"Qwen! Rhys! Welcome to the party!" Jack exclaimed.

"Hello, Jack," Gwen's tolerant amusement told Viera Jack's exuberance was hardly new.

The Doctor leaned closer to question Viera. "You sure you're up to this?" The warm breath on her neck deepened her blush, but she simply smiled.

"I'm fine. Sitting on the couch is hardly going to strain my system." The Doctor nodded but kept an eye on her.

"Well look who's finally awake!" Rhys spotted her first. Gwen's head whipped around in surprise, then she echoed her husband's big grin. They moved into the living room.

"It is so _good_ to see you awake. When you passed out, I was afraid you were gone." Gwen leaned over to pull her into a hug. Viera felt dampness on her neck; when Gwen pulled back she was crying. The older woman swiped at her tears with her hands. "Oh, look at me, falling apart," Gwen sniffed with a sheepish laugh.

"She's been doing this all week. Big cry baby," Rhys mock-complained. He grinned fondly and dodged as she took a half-hearted swipe at him.

"Oh, shut up."

Viera grinned and settled in, content to enjoy the cheerful chaos of her new friends. It was late afternoon when they started, but the group talked late into the night. They finally felt completely free to celebrate with Viera officially out of the woods. Viera was mostly quiet, but she listened and laughed as they told tales of Torchwood and plied the Doctor for stories of his exploits.

Viera got the impression they hadn't gotten much of a chance to talk to him since she blacked out.

It all seemed a bit too domestic for the Doctor, sitting in a living room having hot chocolate with a bunch of humans. Of course, he'd had Christmas dinner with Jackson too. Maybe he'd given up on keeping his distance or maybe he was just reveling in the joyous relief as much as the rest of them. Whatever his reasons, the Doctor didn't complain and Viera was glad they stayed.

She was pretty impressed by how well the meds were working too. They'd yet to wear off completely. She was still sore, shaky, and she still had a headache, but none of it was strong enough to dampen her mood. Viera even managed to walk around a bit, needing the restroom after finishing her hot chocolate. She was making her way back to the living room when Gwen spotted her from the kitchen where she was gathering drinks.

"Hey, Viera," Gwen called before she could pass by. "Would you mind giving me a hand?"

"Sure," she agreed easily.

"I just need you to hold the glasses steady while I pour," Gwen explained, turning to pull cups down from the cupboard. She was obviously familiar with Ianto's kitchen; Viera wondered absently whether that was a recent development. She imagined none of Ianto's friends were eager to let him out of their sight for very long just then.

Viera realized why Gwen needed help when she dragged out a large pitcher filled with something bright red. It was heavy enough that Gwen needed both hands to pour it.

"Might have overdone it a bit," Gwen admitted, grinning self-consciously. Viera smiled back, dutifully steadying the glasses. "You know," Gwen started carefully a moment later, "for someone as conservative as you are, you seem surprisingly okay with Jack and Ianto's relationship," It would have seemed casual except for the careful way she was watching Viera. She wondered if Gwen was worried her convictions might bother Ianto, who couldn't help but be very clear about her feelings on the subject. Or at least as clear about her feelings as Viera herself was, which wasn't always saying much.

Viera took a minute to pull together an answer. Truth be told, she _wasn't_ comfortable with it. She wasn't entirely sure _what _she believed when it came to homosexuality. The way she'd been raised, the things she'd always accepted without question clashed with that lifestyle, and she didn't handle shaken beliefs well. But she loved Jack and she cared about Ianto too, despite not knowing him well.

"They don't believe what I believe," Viera reasoned with a shrug. "I can't exactly expect them to hold to my rules, can I? I can't say I understand all the rules myself and that's… between them and God…" It made her feel conflicted and uneasy, but… they really did seem good together and she had such a soft spot for romance. She _wanted_ their relationship to stay whole and unending. More importantly she'd _felt_ the way Jack was mourning Ianto's loss, how much Ianto mattered to him. _Love is love, right? No matter whom it is? Right?_ She felt a little like she was betraying both Jack and her religion skirting around the issue, more or less fence-sitting, but she didn't really have a clearer answer.

Viera could talk herself in circles all night, arguing both sides, what felt right, what the world said was right, what the church said was right, what the Bible said, interpretations and theories, etcetera, etcetera. It was hard to get anywhere, arguing with herself. Unable to put words to that jumbled mess of thoughts, Viera just shrugged again and replied as honestly and clearly as she could.

"I believe that God loves Jack and Ianto, that God wants me to love them, and _that's_ the most important thing. Everything else is just… none of my business, really."

Gwen studied her a moment, then smiled and nodded, finishing up the last of the glasses. She set down the pitcher and returned to the cupboard, pulling out a serving platter.

"Go on. I've got it," Gwen told her. Viera might have protested if she'd really thought she was capable of carrying anything without risking spilling it just then. She returned to the couch with a relieved sigh, shaking a little from having such an impromptu conversation about a touchy subject. The Doctor gave her a concerned look, but she smiled and leaned against him, and he seemed to relax again.

Gwen came out a moment later and carefully set down her tray of glasses with Ianto's help.

"Here you are," Jack said, handing Viera a glass. "Celebrate with us. Live a little!"

Viera looked at the drink a bit doubtfully. "Can I drink this?" she asked the Doctor. "I mean with the pain meds and all."

Jack paused in the midst of mixing the other drinks to look at her with sudden concern. "You're still on pain meds?"

She supposed after nearly a week it wasn't that odd an assumption to believe she was well on her way to fully healed, especially with the technologies of the TARDIS at their disposal. Viera shrugged and didn't meet his eyes. "Just a bit sore."

"I haven't given you anything that would react badly with alcohol," the Doctor spoke up casually, "so long as you don't have more than a glass or two."

Things got a bit fuzzy from there. The cocktail was fantastic, though she stopped after one glass. Viera figured it was just fatigue that made her thoughts a bit vague and dizzy. She was getting a bit too warm to be snuggled against the Doctor's side the way she was, but Viera couldn't bring herself to move.

"I love you, you know," Viera told the Doctor conversationally, completely unaware of the conversation she'd just interrupted. Just like that, she had the room's attention. "Not… romantically… necessarily." Oh dear, had she really just said that aloud? She wasn't sure she'd meant to. "But I _do_ love you. So much it makes my heart hurt. In a good way." She frowned slightly, vaguely confused by the way the words, which had made sense in her head, were something of a mess by the time they made it out of her mouth. "That sort of ache I felt for my parents, my siblings, my best friends…" Now she was losing her train of thought. She didn't want to remember the people she'd left behind. "I just… thought you should know." Viera sighed after a moment, giving up on the conversation to curl against the Doctor's side more comfortably. She felt mellow and content and just a bit sleepy since the dizziness had passed.

"Usually _I'm_ the one getting unexpected declarations of love," Jack teased.

"I think you're drunk," the Doctor observed, a laughing smile playing at the edges of his mouth.

"I can't be drunk," Viera protested. "I only had one drink." She frowned down at her glass with puzzlement. "The filter between my head and my mouth does seem to be broken though. That's not good. I need that filter." That hadn't sounded nearly so petulant in her head.

"I should have thought of this before," the Doctor admitted, amusement sparkling in his eyes. "This soon after using your power channels your body and mind are still more vulnerable than usual. One drink might be more than enough to get you drunk."

She contemplated that for a moment. "I've never been drunk before. 'S against the rules, drunkenness. Not drinking itself, just drunkenness. Drunk-ness." Viera's brow furrowed as she struggled to get the word out without slurring. What an odd word. "I always figured that's because of the loss of control. Screws with people's judgment. Leaves us vulnerable to all sorts of temptations." She tilted her head back to smile up at him trustingly. "But if I'm going to be drunk, and I didn't mean to be, but if I'm going to be vulnerable at least I'm safe with you. You wouldn't let me do anything I'd regret. Except maybe babble on about things I maybe shouldn't say, but I don't know that even _you_ could stop that."

"I've never heard you mention your parents before," Jack pointed out, grinning slightly at the Doctor's bemusement.

Viera shrugged, momentarily turning her attention to the Captain. "They died."

Jack grimaced. "Sorry."

"'S alright," Viera said honestly. Occasionally the memory of their loss still hurt, but most days it was just the way things were. "It was a while ago. And it's not like I'll never see them again."

"You're so sure of that," Ianto murmured softly, watching her with an expression she couldn't read. Viera supposed that after the soul-baring he knew her beliefs better than even she did.

"Most days," she agreed quietly, slipping into introspective rambling without really meaning to. No one interrupted. "Sometimes I can't imagine not believing, can't comprehend ever thinking otherwise. I've _always_ believed. When I was a child every single adult I looked up to, everyone I trusted believed. Now it's… rarely so simple. I mean, some days I feel so close to God, so connected, so _loved_, so at peace I don't understand how I could ever even contemplate doubt."  
"Some days I believe because it's the only thing that makes sense to me. Looking back on my life it amazes me the way things work out. I _can't_ believe in coincidence. Even in the worst things that happened to me… losing my parents, getting pulled through the Rift, for example… I can see the way God worked through them. If anything had gone differently, different people, different experiences, I wouldn't be quite the person I am today. Maybe this is who I need to be right now. I mean, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you otherwise, right? And if I, such a small, self-focused, insignificant creature in the scope of the universe, can see glimpses of the design, how much more could a Creator incredible enough to make _everything_ see?" Viera motioned widely with her arms, nearly hitting the Doctor in the face and almost spilling Gwen's drink. She calmed just as quickly as she'd gotten worked up, settling back against the seat with a pensive sigh.

"Other days… other days I think I believe because I _need_ to believe. Because believing means hope and purpose and I don't know how to live without faith." Her first conversation with the Doctor came to mind. On those days she could imagine the world without God and she wasn't always certain life was worth it. What was the point without him? Without a bigger plan and an eternity to look forward to? With the foundations of her childhood onward settled firmly in Christianity… when those foundations shook, _everything_ was shaken. "Those days are scary."

Viera pulled herself out of her introspection and glanced at the wildly varying expressions of her companions; curiosity, bemusement, thoughtfulness, discomfort. She sighed again and made a face. "I told you I need a filter. Or an off switch." Apparently she got very talkative when she was drunk.

"Nothing wrong with honesty," the Doctor pointed out.

Viera wrinkled her nose. "People say that, but they don't really mean it. Tact is important. And filters. And little white lies that keep people from throttling each other. And the ability to not say anything when you can't say something nice. Silences are important too."

Jack chuckled. "She's got you there, Doc."

"Don't call me Doc," the Doctor ordered, narrowing his eyes at the Captain playfully.

The conversation drifted to different subject after that, but Viera ceased to follow it. The drowsiness caught up with her. Before long she was soundly asleep, eventually slipping off the Doctor's shoulder to sprawl across his lap. She didn't wake when he said goodbye to the Torchwood trio and Rhys, nor when he picked her up and carried her back to the TARDIS. She didn't stir when he put her to bed, and she'd never know how long he stood there just watching her continue breathing.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I may or may not write a separate story to fill in the blanks while Viera was unconscious (it kinda depends on whether I get any requests and whether my muse comes out of hibernation), but if any of you want to give it a shot, feel free. Let me know in a review (and please keep it K-T) and I'll link to it in my next chapter. You could write the reunion between Jack and Ianto & Stephen, the Doctor's initial reaction, the reunion with Steven's mother, what the Doctor and Jack might have been talking about beforehand, or even how Gwen convinced Rhys to help her steal bodies from the mortuary. Truthfully, I'd like to read all those, but I'm not sure I'm up to writing them just now.

Also, this whole thing rambles a bit. I started it ages ago, then hit a wall, and only worked on it in bits and pieces, then tried to stick it all together. I hope it doesn't seem too choppy and cut up. Or preachy. This is kind of catharsis for me. I was in a rambling mood so Viera was too. I did warn you about the monologing.

Really, it all needs a lot of polishing, but I'd really rather move on towards The End of Time. Waters of Mars and Wedding Bells first though!


	28. Interlude: Martha

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Martha & Mickey: "Beneath the Ruins of Time" by Position Music**

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INTERLUDE: PHONE CALLS & FRIENDSHIPS

Martha

* * *

"Oh it's beautiful," Viera murmured, basking in the awe of it all. The sun of a silent planet was just beginning to sink beneath the horizon. They'd landed at the edge of a mountain range, just above the tree line. The plains below them stretched so far, Viera would almost swear she could see the end of the world. The golden grasses of the plains sparkled in the brilliance of the dying day as the cloud-streaked sky turned colors.

A few minutes went by before she spoke again. "I don't get it. How can you see all this and believe it's just accident?" she asked. The Doctor raised an eyebrow and Viera smiled, guessing at what he was going to say. "I know you get the science of it all, everything that makes it happen, Mr. Genius. But even then… the laws of physics and all that… aren't they just extraordinary? Everything that works together in intricate ways to make reality and nature and even time… it's just _amazing_. You really think that's all just… coincidence?"

He was grinning, amused by her enthusiasm. "It just _is_. You really think it makes more sense to believe in a Creator? And where did he come from? Who created him?"

Viera shrugged. "I dunno. He's just always been. Before time and space and everything."

"Yeah…" he drawled, teasing, not making fun. "That's easier to believe."

She shook her head, still smiling, and they silently agreed to disagree. The complete bliss of the moment didn't last for long. The sun sank lower and the whole sky turned into radiant shades of orange. While Viera was as content as she had ever been, when she glanced back over at the Doctor, his expression had changed. She couldn't guess at what he was thinking, but just for a moment Viera felt like she was standing next to a stranger. He looked so… ageless. Not old exactly but… She forgot sometimes how long he'd been around, how much he'd seen and done. For a moment she imagined she could see all of it in the weight on his shoulders and the solemnity of his dark eyes.

Then the clouds made a slow shift to gentler pinks and greys, and Viera recognized the Doctor again. She turned her gaze back to the sunset before he could catch her staring and breathed in relief.

The last of the light was fading from the sky when the muffled sound of a phone ringing inside the TARDIS broke the silence. Viera glanced at the Doctor, but his gaze remained fixed on the sky. The phone rang twice more and she fidgeted.

"Aren't you going to get that?" the Doctor asked before she could.

Viera raised an eyebrow. "I imagine it's probably for you." He waved off her logic with an absent sweep of his hand and she sighed, shaking her head as she jogged back to the ship. She couldn't let it just keep ringing, and he knew it. "I'm not your secretary!" she called back before she ducked inside.

"Honestly," Viera muttered, more fondness than exasperation. She snatched up the phone mid-ring and adopted a professional tone. "Hello. Doctor's office. What catastrophe can we assist you with today?"

A soft chuckle spilled over the connection. _"Got you answering his phone now, does he?"_

"Martha!" Viera greeted the ex-companion. "Hi. Yeah. He's… well, I'd say busy, but I think he just doesn't like answering the phone. Is everything all right? Do you want me to get him?" She had already begun to lower the phone to do just that, when Martha surprised her.

_"Oh, no, I just—I had a couple questions, but they can wait."_

It felt a little odd to hear hesitation in Martha's voice; she'd been so sure of herself the few times that Viera had met her. "Okay, well, he should be back in a minute or two anyways." It was getting dark outside and she didn't really think he'd go wandering off without her. Probably. Hopefully. Martha made a soft sound of agreement on the other end of the line, and Viera struggled to fill the silence. "So… how is everything? Your family?"

_"They're good. No alien abductions or anything, so I can't complain."_

Viera gave a brief laugh and scrambled for another topic when Martha didn't say anything else. "Have you talked to Jack or any of the others lately?"

Martha's voice lost its amusement. _"Yeah. They told me about what happened. I wish we'd have been there, you know? I mean, things probably wouldn't have been any different but…"_ Viera could imagine her shrugging helplessly in the silence. _"Things worked out all right in the end though," _she added, her tone light again. _"I still can't believe you 'borrowed' the Doctor's TARDIS. I knew you were taking some pretty crazy risks, but I have to admit, I'm glad you did."_

"Couldn't have done it without you," Viera pointed out.

_ "Happy to help,"_ Martha agreed. There was a brief hesitation before she continued, her tone playful though there was something very deliberate about her words. She sighed. _"You know, we take a couple weeks off for a honeymoon and the whole world threatened to end."_

The overly-dramatic tone made Viera smile automatically, then her mind processed the words. "Wait. Honeymoon? You're married?"

It was at this point that the Doctor walked in. He froze halfway through the door and stared a moment before frowning at the phone. 'Who?' he mouthed at Viera.

She just grinned, deciding he could wait to find out. Served him right for not answering his own phone. "When? Who?" she demanded over the phone.

Martha chucked. _"A few weeks ago."_ Viera could hear the grin in her tone. _"Mickey."_

"What?" Viera hadn't expected that at all. Forgetting her plan to make him wait, she spun to face the Doctor. She opened her mouth to tell him before reconsidering. "The Doctor's back. Is this supposed to be a secret?" she asked Martha. The Doctor raised his eyebrows, thoroughly curious. She knew if it was her, she might want to tell him face to face.

_"Naw. Go on and tell him,"_ Martha urged.

"Martha married Mickey," Viera blurted. She wasn't disappointed; stunned surprise froze the Doctor in place. She grinned widely and snickered into the phone. "Oh, you should see his face."

Viera had to step out of the way as the Doctor lunged forward and twisted a few dials on the console. There was a brief crackling of static.

"Congratulations, Martha Jones," the Doctor greeted, letting her know she was on speaker. "Though I suppose that's Martha Smith now."

_"Hello, Doctor,"_ Martha greeted happily.

"How'd it happen?" Viera asked, wanting details. "I didn't know the two of you were that close." Though really, she'd only seen them together the once.

_"Honestly, it all happened pretty quickly. I was engaged to Thomas when we met, but Mickey was a fast friend. He did a bit of freelancing with UNIT sometimes, and he's a good man to have at your back, you know?"_ The Doctor nodded absently, though he didn't interrupt. _"He was a huge help when Thomas disappeared overseas."_

"Oh no," Viera murmured sympathetically.

_"We found him,"_ Martha reassured. _"To make a very long story short he'd been taken by aliens. Mickey helped me get him back but… Thomas hadn't really understood what I did with UNIT until then. He didn't like how dangerous it was, and when he demanded I quit… Well, that was that."_

"I'm sorry," Viera said, hearing the hurt in Martha's voice. Even if it had all worked out for the better, old wounds still stung.

_"Mickey was very… comforting. He stayed by my side, kept me from getting reckless during work. And there was one late night, a couple shots of tequila…"_ They could hear the smile in her voice again. _"Suddenly we weren't just friends anymore."_

"That's wonderful," Viera sighed.

"I'm thrilled for you both," the Doctor stated quietly. Pride and fondness warmed his words. "You are happy, aren't you?"

_"Completely,"_ Martha assured.

"Good." He grinned, gaze distant as though he could see something the rest of them couldn't. "You were always brilliant, Martha, but together, the two of you… You're going to be amazing."


	29. 8:1 Just Along for the Ride

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**In the Shadows of Mars: "Freedom Fighters" by Two Steps From Hell**

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PART EIGHT – WATERS OF MARS

Chapter One – Just Along for the Ride

It was starting out to be a very strange day, Viera mused. First they'd landed on Mars, which was neat, but she was _not_ fond of being stuck in a spacesuit, knowing that the fabric was all that was keeping her alive. Then they'd been taken captive by a rather odd little robot and taken into a space station. The Doctor had gone a bit mad upon learning the identities of their captors, or hosts, or whoever they were. And now, instead of getting them neck-deep into trouble alongside the colonists, he was insisting they had to leave, even as a garbled roar sounded over the intercom.

"What's going on?" Viera hissed quietly. The crew around them were preoccupied by the growl and their two missing companions, but the Doctor's expression was caught between sorrow and curiosity rather than surprise.

"Things are going to go… rather badly, I'm afraid," the Doctor murmured. He sounded resigned, and that wasn't like him at all.

"What does that mean?" Viera bit her lip. "You know what's going on?"

"Not exactly," he sighed. "But it doesn't matter. We can't do anything. We can't help them."

"What?" Viera felt like she'd stumbled into some sort of alternate reality. It couldn't be the Doctor saying those things. He never gave up on people, not until he'd tried everything possible and a few things that weren't. "Why not?"

The Doctor grimaced. "There are certain points in time, certain events that cannot be altered. This is one of those times."

She took a deep breath, glancing over at the colonists trying to figure out what had happened to the people in the green house. "What happens to them?" she had to ask.

"They die."

A wave of cold washed through her skin. _They die? We're just… going to let them die? _"All of them?" Viera questioned, turning back to the Doctor with wide eyes. He just looked back at her, the tiredness in his gaze answer enough. "I don't understand. We changed things all the time. How do you know-"

"Time Lord thing," the Doctor interrupted. His tone was firm, demanding she not question. "Just trust me on this."

Viera just stared at him.

"You two, with me," Captain Adelaide commanded, looking pointedly at the time travellers.

"Um, I'm sorry. We'd love to help," the Doctor replied, striding closer to reach for the spacesuits in Steffi's arms. "But we're leaving. Right now."

"Take those spacesuits, lock them up," Adelaide ordered. Steffi pulled them out of the Doctor's reach. Viera wondered how long it'd take them to find the suits once they managed to sneak away from their escort.

"This started as soon as you arrived, so you're not going anywhere except with me." Adelaide gave them both a stern glare. Viera looked away. It was hardly their fault they kept getting dropped into dangerous situations, but she could understand the suspicion. And Adelaide was intimidating.

They were led into a long corridor, the Doctor leading the way with Adelaide, and Viera and Tarak walking close enough to listen to their conversation, with the little robot trailing behind.

'_They die.'_ The Doctor's words wouldn't stop echoing in her ears. '_We can't help them.'_ _ God, are we really going to just walk away?_

"What's so important about Mia's age?" Adelaide interrupted her thoughts. "You said 'she's only 27'. Why does it matter? What did you mean?"

The Doctor hardly hesitated. "Naw, I just open my mouth and words come out. They don't make much sense."

Viera would have grinned if she hadn't been feeling so grim and confused. As it was she stayed silent as the Doctor bantered with Dr. Ital. The trailing robot bleated behind them.

"Gaget, gaget."

The Doctor glanced back disapprovingly. "I hate robots," he muttered.

"Why?" Viera questioned, eager for the distraction. She looked back as well. It wasn't as though the little thing was threatening, or resembled the Cybermen much at all. She wondered if it reminded the Doctor of something else he'd fought along the way.

"Yeah, what's wrong with robots?" Roman's voice sounded from the robot.

"It's not the robots, it's the humans. Dressing them up and giving them funny voices, like you're reducing them," the Doctor explained.

_Nope, I still don't get it_, Viera thought, eying gadget from the corner of her eye.

"Friend of mine, she made her domestic robot look like a dog," Roman told them, incredulous.

"Ah well, dogs. That's different." The Doctor glanced back and met Viera's gaze and they both grinned, thinking of K9.

"Robot _dogs_ are brilliant," Viera added, her tone taking on a bit of teasing.

Roman began explaining how he'd adapted Gadget out of worker drones, then quickly regressed into a ramble about how amazing those drones were. Viera was almost relieved when Adelaide interrupted, though the Captain's tone made her feel like she was in trouble at school or something, even though it wasn't aimed at her.

"The channel is open for essential communications only," Adelaide scolded.

"Sorry," Roman said immediately. Then a beat later, "Love those drones."

The Doctor was watching Adelaide. "I've read all that stuff about you. Captain Adelaide. But one thing they never said… Was it worth it? The mission?"

_Worth dying for?_ Viera read between the lines, though that might have simply been the way her own thoughts were leading.

"We've got excellent results from the soil analysis," the Captain replied stiffly.

_Well that's comforting._

"No," the Doctor cajoled, "but all of it. Cause they say you sacrificed everything, devoted your whole life to get here."

There were a few moments of silence. When Adelaide finally answered her words honest, passionate by the end. She finally seemed like an actual person instead of just a Captain. "It's been chaos, back home. Forty long years. The climate, the ozone, the Oil Apocalypse, we almost reached extinction… Then to fly above that, to stand on a world with no smoke, where the only straight line is the sunlight. Yes, it's worth it."

The Doctor grinned. "Ah, that's the Adelaide Brooke I always wanted to meet. The woman with starlight in her soul."

_How poetic,_ Viera thought, feeling pain that such an explorer was about to meet their end. _And no one will ever know why._

Adelaide wasn't paying attention to them anymore. Her blue eyes were fixed on a figure crumple on the floor down the hall. "What's that?" she murmured. Then they all took off running.

_We should be running the other way_, Viera thought nervously. It was one thing to feign courageousness when they were facing something they had a chance of fighting, no matter what the odds. Walking out into a ship full of Daleks? She could do that, given the right company. It was something entirely different being caught up in something when she already knew they were doomed. It was a little like watching a horror movie, knowing that everyone except perhaps the main character would be dead at the end. Except she was stuck in the middle of the movie.

The crumpled figure turned out to be a pretty, dark-skinned woman. She didn't _look_ hurt, aside from being unconscious, but who knew what was really wrong with her.

"It's Maggie," Adelaide breathed. Dr. Tarak dropped to his knees beside Maggie as the Captain ran around to kneel in front of her.

"Don't touch her," the Doctor warned sharply.

"I know the procedure," Tarak muttered back.

Viera bit her lip, wondering if this was how it started. She didn't want to be there. Helplessness was a terrible feeling; it left her with a sick, cold sensation in her belly that seemed like it would never abate. She didn't want to watch them die. She didn't even want to remember them. Viera shifted nervously from foot to foot and wished the Doctor would give the signal to sneak away. She tugged on his arm, her expression pleading. His face grew pinched, torn. He opened his mouth and tilted his head as though trying to find the words he wanted, but nothing came out. He cast his gaze down the corridor, either trying to figure out if they had a good chance of escape or looking for an excuse to stay. Yuri and Ed showed up to help, and the Doctor used that as a distraction, warning them to use the gloves. He avoided Viera's worried gaze and she kept her mouth shut.

_You're the one who said we had to leave. You're the one who said we couldn't change things. Am I supposed to trust your words then or trust your decisions now? I'm not sure I can do both for much longer._

"Do what he says. Get her to sick bay and put her in isolation," Dr. Tarak ordered Yuri.

"We're going to the bio-dome," Adelaide stated calmly. "Tarak, with me. Yuri can take care of her. Ed, go back. Gadget, stand guard; keep an eye on this area."

"Gadget, gadget!"

"Captain, you're gonna need me. Andy's the only other crewmember out here, and if that wasn't an accident, then he's gone wild-"

"You've deserted your post. Consider that an official warning. Now get back to work," Adelaide snapped.

_That seemed unnecessarily harsh,_ Viera thought, watching hurt flicker across Ed's expression. She frowned, already missing the brief glimpse of a warm human being they'd gotten from Adelaide earlier.

"Doctor? Viera?" the Captain called, her tone making it a clear order. The Doctor gave Ed a sympathetic grimace, then the two of them trotted after Adelaide obediently.

The rest of the journey through the hallway was silent and unnerving. They'd almost reached the end when Steffi's voice sounded over the comms urgently. "Captain. That sound we heard from the bio-dome, I've run it through diagnostics. According to the computer… it's Andy. It registers as the voice-print of Andy Stone."

"Understood. Double-check, thanks." The Captain's expression grew grimmer as they filed in to a bubble-shaped airlock.

The thick, heavy door closed behind them and Viera began to wish that they were still on the other side of it. She looked to the Doctor; his expression was hard to read. Viera wondered what he was thinking. He caught her gaze and gave her a reassuring smile. For once it did little to make her feel better. The people around them were as good as dead even though they didn't know it. Even if they figured out what was going on, they couldn't help. That had never happened before.

Tarak pressed a few buttons on the control panel by the other door. "Air pressure stabilized."

The airlock opened with a soft hiss, and they all cautiously stepped out. Captain Adelaide immediately began calling for Andrew Stone. Viera stuck close to the Doctor, tempted though she was to stay in the airlock. There were plants everywhere, which Viera would usually have appreciated. As it was though, they just made for more shadows, more places for monsters to hide. She was relieved when the Doctor's fiddling at the console turned on the lights. The bio-dome was still spooky, but it was pretty spectacular too.

"What's that device?" Adelaide demanded, looking at the sonic screwdriver the Doctor had used to fix the lights.

"Screwdriver."

"Are you the Doctor or the Janitor?"

"I don't know. Sounds like me, doesn't it?" the Doctor asked, turning to smirk at Viera. "Maintenance man of the universe."

"Very fitting," Viera had to admit, smiling briefly. _Just not today._ She swallowed and looked away as the Doctor turned to examine another plant. Adelaide kept walking but they lagged behind a little when the Doctor nudged Viera and pointed to one of the plants, grin widening.

"Quite an achievement. First flower on Mars in 10,000 years."

"It's lovely," Viera agreed quietly. The Doctor's smile faded a little at her continued solemnity. He was trying to get her to share in the adventure, in the experience, and she was grateful but… "But shouldn't we go?" The longer they stayed, the harder it was going to be to leave.

"Well… yes, but… Don't you want to know what's going on here?" the Doctor questioned, looking a bit guilty.

_Curiosity killed the cat. I'd rather it didn't kill me too. Is it really so important to know why they're going to die if you already know they're going to die?_ Viera frowned at him but didn't audibly protest. The Doctor chose to take her silence as agreement.

"Right then. We'll figure this out and be gone in a blink." The Doctor flashed a smile and turned away before she could decide to argue. "Captain!" he called, jogging to catch up with Adelaide.

Viera glanced longingly back at the doorway. She could wait for him there, or even go looking for their spacesuits. She could. Viera sighed, picked up her pace and followed the Doctor. Who was she kidding? She didn't like splitting up when they _had_ to. She'd follow that man anywhere.

"Hey, are those birds?" Viera heard the Doctor ask Adelaide as she caught up. Once she was paying attention she heard them too, a scattering of chirps in the trees and in the rafters.

"Part of the project. Keeps the insect population down," Adelaide explained without interest.

_Makes the bio-dome a little less creepy too. Well, sort of. It might help if it was daylight and the right time for song birds._

"Good sign," the Doctor commented.

"In what way?" asked Captain Brooke.

"Well, they're still alive."

_That actually makes me feel a little better,_ Viera thought. _But I kinda wish I was up there with them._ Then Yuri's voice came over the comms.

"Captain? Good news! It's Maggie. She's awake. She's back with us." There was some background noise, then they could hear Yuri's enthusiasm soften as he talked to his patient. "Hey, how are you, soldier? Just take it easy. Can you remember what happened?"

Feeling worried and uneasy, Viera reached out to find the Doctor's hand. He gave her a questioning look, then a softer smile and squeezed her hand.

"I was just… working. I dunno," Maggie's voice came over the comms. "Then I woke up here."

Captain Adelaide's voice was brisk with worry. "What about Andy? We can't find him. Whas he all right?"

"I don't know, I just…" Maggie trailed off uncertainly.

"If you remember anything, let me know. Straight away."

Ed's voice came over the speaker. "Yuri, does she know how she ended up in the tunnel?"

"Keep the comms clear," Adelaide snapped. "Everything goes through me, got that?" Viera flinched at her tone. She didn't understand why the Captain was so tough on Ed. She stayed quiet while they searched the bio-dome, never letting go of the Doctor's hand. It was pretty amazing, if she let herself think about it, all that they had built on Mars. Viera wondered what it would look like in the future, but she couldn't ask the Doctor with Adelaide still within earshot.

"This is sickbay," Yuri's voice came over the speaker suddenly, shaken and rambling. "We have a situation. Maggie's condition has… I don't know. I don't know what it is. It's _water_ just pouring out."

"Yuri, calm down. Just tell me what's happened to her."

"The skin's sort of… broken around the mouth. And she's exuding water. Like she's drowning."

"Tarak, this area's unsafe. We're going back," Adelaide spoke into the communicator. There was no answer. "Tarak? Tarak!"

"We shouldn't have split up," Viera muttered, though she hadn't meant to do so out loud. _You'd think we'd have learned that by now. Dangerous situation? Unknown enemy? Don't split up. Respond to things like you're in a horror movie where everything that could go wrong, will. Not that it matters, really,_ a more cynical part of Viera thought. _They're all going to die anyways. They're all going to die. And we're not going to do a thing about it._

"Where was he?" demanded the Doctor.

Adelaide took off running, the time travellers on her heels. They sprinted through the vegetation without another word, only to skid to a stop moments later.

"Oh no," Viera whimpered. They'd found Tarak. He was kneeling in front of a stranger, convulsing as water poured into his open mouth. The water came from the stranger's hand, whom Viera would guess to be Andy. He didn't look human anymore, not really. She understood what Yuri had meant by the skin being broken around the mouth; Andy's face looked like dry, cracked ground that hadn't seen rain in years, but water just kept pouring past his blackened lips. He looked up and grinned at them. Viera took a step back.

Adelaide pulled her gun. She and the Doctor both started talking at the same time. While the Captain yelled orders and warnings at Andy, the Doctor pleaded with him. Despite knowing that everyone on the base was going to die, the Doctor's first instinct was to try to save absolutely everyone. He couldn't just stand aside when lives were on the line in front of him. Later she would wonder if this was when they both realized he couldn't just walk away. At the time she was mostly concerned with the creature in front of them and the loaded gun in Adelaide's hands.

Andy lowered his hand and Tarak slumped back on his heels like a puppet with its strings cut. He didn't back away from Andy or make any sort of sound; Viera wondered what exactly Andy had done to him.

"There now," the Doctor murmured, relieved. "That's better. So, you must be Andy. Hello."

Then Tarak raised his head. He was soaked and his eyes were as cloudy as Andy's; water poured from his cracked mouth. The infection, whatever it was had spread. Adelaide still had her gun aimed at the two of them, her finger on the trigger, but there was no shot.

"We've got to go," the Doctor urged gently, his gaze locked on Adelaide. There was a moment's hesitation, then she dropped the gun and turned, the Doctor snagged Viera's hand, and the three of them took off again. Viera could hear heavy footsteps pounding behind them as the two infected men followed. They were _fast_. The pounding got closer and closer, but they were almost to the exit.

They reached the airlock and the Doctor let go of Viera's hand. The two of them struggled with the door lock while Adelaide punched codes into the keypad next to it. It popped open and the three of them scrambled inside.

"Set the seals at maximum!" the Doctor ordered. He pulled the door shut behind them. Adelaide was busy with the controls, but Viera was close enough to see the two infected men stop out. Then Andy, or what had once been Andy raised his hand and shot a thick spray of water at the door. When nothing gave, he stopped and lowered his arm. Then he walked closer.

"What are they?" Viera asked, backing away from the door. She could feel the horror etched into her expression. Monsters were one thing. Monsters that used to be people you knew were something else entirely. She'd _liked_ Dr. Tarak. There didn't seem to be anything left of him in that body. "What happened to them?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied. He was studying the two men outside. The mutated, cracked mouth of Andy smiled.

The Captain was on the comms again after a plea from Steffi for her return. "Just tell me that Maggie is contained. Ed, can you confirm?"

"Confirmed," Ed's voice crackled over the radio. "She's locked in."

"Keep surveillance till I get back," Adelaide commanded. "And close down all water supplies. All pipes and outlets, don't consume anything, have you got that? Everyone? That's an order. Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop."

Viera supposed that made sense, the water being the source of infection.

"Can you talk?" the Doctor asked, still watching Andy and Tarak. He glanced back at the two woman trapped with him. "Human beings are sixty percent water. Which makes them the perfect host," he explained.

_No matter how much danger we're in, there's always a spark of curiosity at anything new,_ Viera mused, more fondness than exasperation coloring her thoughts. _Just like on Midnight._ She flinched slightly at that memory; things could have been worse, but they hadn't turned out all that well either.

"What for?" Adelaide was asking.

"I don't know. I never will," the Doctor stated quietly, voice already stained with regret. He suddenly had Viera's full attention. "Because we've got to go. Whatever's started here, we can't see it to the end. We _can't_."

_Finally_, Viera thought, trying valiantly to feel more relief than sorrow at the idea. It didn't work all that well.

Then they all jumped as Andy and Tarak took hold of the outer airlock door, fierce sprays of water shooting from their hands and mouths to pound against the seams. Viera took another couple steps back, ready to bolt.

"This thing's airtight, yeah?" the Doctor asked, also backing up.

"And therefore watertight," Adelaide replied.

"Depends how clever the water is." With that reassuring comment the control panels began to spark.

"We should leave now," Viera observed, turning her back to push at the door leading to the corridor.

"Abandon ship!" the Doctor agreed. They forced the door open, then the three of them were running again. Behind them Viera could hear the small explosions from the wiring. Then there were footsteps again, pounding behind them. They were distant at first, as the trio had gotten a good head start, but every time Viera glanced over her shoulder the two infected men had gained a little more ground.

The Doctor stopped abruptly when they reached Gaget, turning the little robot around. Viera nearly whimpered when she stopped as well, panic clawing away at her insides, telling her to _run, Run, RUN._

"Doctor, we haven't got time!" Adelaide protested.

"They can run faster than us," the Doctor pointed out. "We need a lift." He did something with the screwdriver, then climbed onto the back of the robot. "Both of you, get on. Hurry!" Viera obeyed without question, quite used to crazy, brilliant ideas. She clung to the Doctor's back, arms clasped around his lean waist tightly.

Adelaide protested even as she followed suit. There wasn't a whole lot of room on the robot; the Doctor let go with one arm so she could climb on in front of him. "This thing moves at two miles an hour!"

"Not anymore!" the Doctor proclaimed. With a whining gesture of the sonic screwdriver, the little robot took off like it was on rockets.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wonder if I shouldn't have just skipped this episode altogether. I don't know why it frustrates me so much, but boy does it ever. If this is completely awful, feel free just to skip to the End of Time (aka, The Passing of Moments). I'm afraid I took out the only interesting thing (the infection) and stuck it in an alternate world.


	30. 8:2 Choices

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Decisions at the Rising Tide: "The Accidental Death of Effie" by Break of Reality**

* * *

PART EIGHT – WATERS OF MARS

Chapter Two – Choices

They escaped the creatures who had once been Tarak and Andy, but barely. Viera stared through the clear sections of the door at the sopping wet men on the other side and shook.

"We're safe," she heard Adelaide say behind her. "It's hermetically sealed. They can't get in."

The Doctor couldn't condone letting their guard down. "Water is patient. Water just waits. It wears down the clifftops, the mountains, the whole of the world. Water always wins." He turned away. "Come on."

But enough was enough. They weren't even supposed to be there. Viera didn't want to watch them fall one by one to whatever had taken over Dr. Tarak. She couldn't bear to stay and watch and do nothing.

"Viera, come on," the Doctor urged, coming back for her when she didn't move. She took his hand when his fingers brushed against hers, but she didn't follow. Viera shook her head when he gave her a puzzled look.

"I don't want to be here. Please. I don't want to watch this. I want to go home." She watched understanding fill the Doctor's eyes and his manic curiosity fade. She was sorry to see it go, but not sorry enough to take it back.

"No one is going anywhere," Captain Brooke stated firmly, rejoining them.

The Doctor gave her a long, sad look and then took a deep breath. "We need our spacesuits back."

"Nobody leaves until I say so," Adelaide insisted. Her voice turned sharp and her posture straightened. They were no longer comrades running from a common enemy; she was a leader who expected her orders to be obeyed.

"Listen, there is parasite loose on your base, infecting through water. Water that all of you have drank. I'm sorry, really I am, but there's _nothing_ we can do. We're still clean," he stated, motioning to himself and Viera. "If we're going to stay that way, we _have_ to leave."

Adelaide's lips thinned and Viera thought she was going to be stubborn. Then she closed her eyes, coping with her decision.

"Your suits are back in the main dome," she stated quietly, giving in. She spun around and started walking briskly down the tunnel.

"Thank you," the Doctor breathed. He jogged to catch up with her, Viera at his heels. "Really, Adelaide, thank you."

Viera looked away, feeling guilty at the hints of sorrow in his voice. Maybe she shouldn't have pushed for them to abandon the Mars crew, but it wasn't like they could help even if they stayed, right? Wouldn't it feel worse to stay until the end.

And she really didn't want to risk either of them getting infected.

The Captain called her crew to warn them about Tarak and Andy, then she turned her attention back to them. Viera rather wished she hadn't.

"You don't look like cowards," Adelaide mused, studying them a bit too closely. Viera kept her gaze studiously on the path in front of her; she felt like all the answers were written on her face. She was terrible at lying. "But all you've wanted to do is leave."

The Doctor wasn't responding either. There was no way to escape the conversation walking down that long stretch of corridor.

"You know so much about us," the Captain continued.

"You're famous," the Doctor pointed out reasonably.

"But it's like you know _more._" Adelaide couldn't quite make the jump to the truth and Viera wished she'd stop trying. She was getting awfully close. And the Doctor's guilty conscious wouldn't let him keep quiet.

"This moment, this precise moment in time, it's like... I mean, it's only a theory, what do I know? But I think certain moments in time are fixed. Tiny, precious moments. Everything else is in flux, anything can happen, but those certain moments, they have to stand. And this base, on Mars, with you, Adelaide Brooke, this is one, vital moment. What happens here, must always happen."

_Oh, Doctor. Don't do this._

"Which is what?" Adelaide asked.

"I don't know," the Doctor lied. He struggled with that a moment, then revised his statement. "I think something wonderful happens. Something that started 50 years ago, isn't that right? When you were ten years old."

_What? _ Viera's confusion paled in the face of Adelaide's surprise.

"I've never told anyone that," she breathed.

"You told your daughter. And maybe, one day, she tells the story, to her daughter. Of the day Earth was stolen, and moved across the universe, and you..."

"I saw the Daleks," Adelaide finished for him. "We looked up. The sky had changed.

Everyone was running, and screaming, and my father took hold of me..." She swallowed hard at the memories and shook her head. "I never saw him again. Nor my mother. They were never found." Viera winced, remembering that same day all too well. "But out on the streets, there was panic. And burning. I went to the window. And there in the sky... there was Dalek. I saw it, Doctor, and it saw me. It stared at me. Looked right into me, and then… it simply went away." With an effort the Captain pulled herself out of her memories. "I knew. That night. I knew I would follow it. Out here."

"But not for revenge," the Doctor stated.

"What would be the point of that?"

"Ah, that's what makes you remarkable," he sighed, awe for this unique human woman leaking into his voice. "And that's how you create history."

"What do you mean?"

"Imagine it, Adelaide. If you began a journey that takes the human race all the way out to the stars. Imagine, it begins with you, and then your granddaughter. You inspire her. So that in thirty years' time, Susie Fontana Brooke is the pilot of the first lightspeed ship to Proxima Centauri. And then everywhere! With her children, and her children's children, forging the way, to the Dragon Star, the Celestial Belt of the Winter Queen, the Map of the Water Snake Wormholes - one day a Brooke will even fall in love with a Tandonian prince, and that's the start of a whole new species. But everything starts with you, Adelaide. From 50 years ago, to right here, today. _Imagine_."

Viera couldn't believe he was telling her so much. Adelaide stopped in the middle of the corridor to stare at him.

"Who are you?" the Captain asked. The Doctor gave no reply. Viera wondered if he was regretting saying so much. "Why are you telling me this? Doctor. Why tell me?" Adelaide demanded.

The Doctor's reply was sad but steady. "As consolation."

Viera watched their silent stand off for a moment longer before turning abruptly away. "We should go," she muttered, taking hurried steps. She heard their footsteps behind her, but she couldn't look at either of them.

They almost made it to the main dome before Adelaide decided to press for more.

"Tell me what happens."

Viera stumbled, tripping over her own feet. She pretended she hadn't heard and kept walking. She told herself she didn't feel guilty about letting the Doctor deal with it alone, but really she just didn't know what to say. How many lines had they crossed already, just being there?

"I don't know," the Doctor replied.

"Yes you do. Now tell me," the Captain demanded. Frustrated panic flared in her eyes and she drew her gun again, leveling it at the Doctor. "_Tell me!"_

The gun made Viera nervous, but the Doctor looked sad, not worried. "Except you won't. You could have shot Andy Stone, but you didn't. I loved you for that," he admitted, sounding torn. Viera watched him struggle and could see what was coming. The Captain lowered her gun with defeat in her eyes, but still he opened his mouth to say more.

"Doctor, don't," she pleaded. No one wanted to know that they were going to die. Her thoughts flickered to the prophesy hanging over the Doctor's head. He grimaced; he heard her, but he had to do _something_. Even if it was just offering some sort of explanation, an apology for why what was going to happen _had_ to happen.

"Imagine if... Imagine if you knew something, but-" He faltered and tried again. "Imagine you found yourself somewhere, I don't know, Pompeii, imagine you were in Pompeii-"

"What the hell's that got to do with it?" Adelaide demanded.

"- and you tried to save them. But in doing so. You make it happen. Anything I do, just makes it happen. You're taking Action One. There are four more Standard Action Procedures. And Action Five is-"

"Detonation," Adelaide stated, her horror at the thought clear in her voice. Still the Doctor kept talking.

"The final option. The nuclear device at the heart of the Central Dome. Today, on the 21st of

November 2059, Captain Brooke activates that device. Taking the base and all her crewmembers with her. No one ever knows why. But you were saving Earth. When the rescue ship arrives, the ice-field has gone, the Flood has burnt."

The Captain shook her head, unable to accuse him of lying. He sounded so certain. She just wasn't ready to give up just yet. "No. We'll escape this. We'll evacuate."

"You never do," he stated quietly, an odd mixture of mourning and pride coating his words. "That's what inspires your granddaughter. She takes your people out into the galaxy because you die, on Mars. You die, today. She flies out there, like... ohh, like she's trying to meet you."

"I won't die. I will not," Adelaide insisted. She clung to the last of her defiance like the lifeline it was, but the Doctor could offer no hope, only the knowledge that it would not be for nothing.

"But your death creates the future."

How did one respond to something like that? What could anyone say?

"Help me," Adelaide breathed. Viera closed her eyes, unable to bear the fear and pleading on the Captain's face or the sorrow on the Doctor's. "Why won't you help? Doctor, if you know all this, then why can't you change it? Why can't you find a way? You could tell me, I don't know, show me some way of-"

"I can't," the Doctor replied hoarsely. "I can't. Adelaide, I swear, I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't - sometimes I can, sometimes I do, most times, I can save someone, or anyone, but... Not you."

They'd never turned their backs on someone asking for help before, not for as long as Viera had been with him. It broke her heart to do so now. She wished they'd never come. She wished she didn't know the lives they were abandoning, condemning to death.

"You wondered all your life, why that Dalek spared you. I think it knew. Your death is fixed, in

Time, forever, and that's _right_," the Doctor stated. He sounded steady, certain, but looking at his strained expression Viera thought perhaps he was trying to convince himself as much as Adelaide.

Adelaide stared at him for a long while, emotions running rampant through her expression. Fear, hopelessness, frustration, rage… the reluctant beginnings of resignation.

She spun around abruptly and opened the door to the dome. "Get out of here," she demanded harshly. "You're suits are in the room to the left. Get them and leave." Then Captain Brooke turned on her heel and stalked away without giving them a chance to say a goodbye or an apology.

"Come on, Viera," the Doctor stated tiredly. "Let's go."

They were silent as they put on their vibrant orange spacesuits. Viera could hear occasional chatter from the Mars crew through her helmet communicator. She didn't know whether the Doctor had done that on purpose, or if he even knew, but she couldn't bring herself to ask him to turn it off. Part of her would much rather turn it off and forget them, but part of her felt like the torment of hearing them struggle for survival was proper penance. So she said nothing.

The walk back to the TARDIS was just as silent. Viera was too tangled up in her own guilt to offer cheerful conversation and she didn't want to talk about the sorrow choking her or the flare of anger she felt towards herself and the frustration she felt with God.

_Why? Why bring us here if we couldn't do anything to help? What's the point? It isn't fair. I don't want them to die. I don't want to remember that look on Adelaide's face. I wish we'd never come. It isn't fair. It isn't fair._

Viera couldn't even wipe away the frustrated tears that spilled from her eyes with her helmet in the way. The rocky red landscape at her feet blurred and she stumbled but kept walking.

The Doctor walked ahead of her, lost in his own thoughts. If she'd had the presence of mind to attempt it, Viera would have tried to distract him. It was bad enough for her, choosing to leave, but the decision wasn't really hers. She was following his lead because that's what she did, because that's who she was. Because she trusted him.

The Doctor had to bear the heavier weight of responsibility on his shoulders. He was the one who really made the call, and he felt every ounce of that burden. The guilt and frustration built up so high that by the time they stepped into the safety of the TARDIS, he was practically boiling.

He flipped a switch on the console and the radio crackled to life. It picked up the communications from the dome and Viera flinched to hear the crew's voices as they tried to evacuate. The Doctor tore off his suit piece by piece and threw it aside with more violence than Viera had ever witnessed from him. The helmet cracked against the wall but he didn't seem to notice.

The Doctor paced when he was free of the suit, stalking to the TARDIS to throw a few switches, cursing quietly and putting the switches back. Then he'd stalk away and back to do it all over again.

"Doctor," Viera murmured, almost wary of drawing his attention when he was in such a temper. She'd never seen him so undone. She set her helmet carefully down on the ground and stepped closer.

"This isn't right," the Doctor stated. His eyes were tormented beneath the frustration when he glanced her way. "They deserve better than this. I can't- I can't do this. _We_ can do this."

"You said we had to," Viera reminded him gently. "Isn't that what you told Adelaide, that we can't change it? That anything we tried would just make it happen?"

He winced. "Not always. It's not that we _couldn't _change things here. It's- there are laws against messing with fixed points in time. It isn't supposed to be done." The Doctor gave a bitter, spiteful-sounding laugh and ran his hands through his already-wild hair. "Not that there's anyone to notice."

Raised voices carried over the radio speakers. Ed was struggling with Maggie. They heard rushing water then things got quieter until Ed admitted to being infected and started saying his goodbyes.

Something broke within the Doctor and all his restraint shattered away. "Damn the laws! This is no one's choice but mine!" he exclaimed, louder and louder as he paced. "I have every right to step in."

"I think you might be going too far with this-"

"I can't just stand here and let them _die_!" the Doctor spun to snap at her. She knew she was just a convenient vent for his frustration, that he was arguing more with himself than with her, but she hated being yelled at.

"That's not what I meant," Viera insisted.

"And who's going to stop me? Once upon a time, there were people, in charge of the Laws of Time, but they died, they all died, and d'you know who that leaves? Me! It's taken me all these years to realize. I'm the last! You know, for a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor. But I'm not. I'm the winner. That's who I am. The Time Lord Victorious," he declared wildly, arrogance tangling with the resentment in his voice, overwhelming everything.

"Doctor, stop…"

"The Laws of Time are mine. And they will obey me!" He was truly alien just then, cold and distant and untouchable. She didn't know him.

She couldn't bear it. "Stop it! _Stop it!_ You're _scaring_ me!" Viera yelled, matching his volume, her fear and desperation strong enough to override her usual aversion to confrontation.

He stopped. The Doctor looked like she'd slapped him. She stood staring at him a moment longer, hazel eyes wide and startled by her own voice.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't save them," Viera rushed through the words as soon as she found her voice again. "I'm not. But we _can't_ do it because you feel like it's your right to play god. There's only one God, Doctor, and you're not him."

There was a burst of panicked chatter over the speakers as the Mars dome began to leak and Steffi was cornered by approaching water.

"They're going to die," the Doctor stated painfully. He couldn't stomach standing by and just _letting _them die, not when there was a chance he could save them. It went against everything he was.

It went against everything she was too. "What happens if we save them?" Viera questioned carefully.

"We put human history- future at risk. We could throw the fate of all mankind off course."

"But we might not? The universe isn't going to implode automatically if we break the rules?"

The Doctor shook his head, pacing again. "There's no one left to enforce the old laws. If we're lucky, if we do it right, we could make it work." He turned to her, asking her to believe him. "_I_ can make this work."

"No one's above it all, Doctor. Not even you," Viera warned quietly. She didn't mean to lecture, but he was walking a dangerous line and she didn't know how else to get her point across. She needed him to see that they could justify the action without deciding that he was simply above all the laws. He needed those laws to keep him from becoming… from becoming something he'd be ashamed of. Too much power was a terrible thing, even for someone with as good of intentions as the Doctor.

That didn't mean she thought they should stand there and do nothing. "But I think… Everywhere we go, we land there for a reason. Haven't you noticed that? Even when we don't mean to land there. _Especially_ when we don't mean to land there. So maybe we are supposed to save them."

He gave a brief, humorless laugh. "So what you're saying is that we should break the laws of time because it's fate. Because _your_ God wants us to?" the Doctor pointed out the edges of hypocrisy, his earlier fervor absent.

She opened her mouth, hesitated, shook her head and shrugged. She just wanted him to stop acting arrogant, so out of reach. Honestly, she didn't really know the answer. Usually she was all for following the rules; they were made for good reason, after all. Maybe it was a test, temptation.

But Viera couldn't believe that the right thing to do was to turn their backs on the dying and walk away.

The sound of Steffi sobbing reminded them that they were running out of time to decide.

"I don't know. I just… We have to try, don't we?"

The Doctor gave up and reached for one of the levers. He still looked wild and reckless; something Viera didn't recognize still gleamed in his eyes. "Hold on!"

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I messed around just a little with the timeline here, putting Ed's infection before Steffi's. It feels too much like cheating to save everyone, I guess, and too tragic to have them decide to try and still fail Ed.


	31. 8:3 Rescue or Ruin

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Changing the Past: "King's Return, Pt. 3" by Epic Score**

* * *

PART EIGHT – WATERS OF MARS

Chapter Three – Rescue or Ruin

Viera forgot sometimes just how incredible the TARDIS really was. With some very careful maneuvering the Doctor managed to get it to materialize _around_ Steffi. Just Steffi. The shields kept out the waterfall that had been closing in on her. Not even the floor she had been standing on came with her; the TARDIS simply appeared beneath her feet.

The blond gave a quiet shriek as spun around, eyes wide. Viera stepped forward with her hands held out in a calming gesture.

"It's all right, Steffi. It's just us. This is the Doctor's ship. You're safe here," she stated with complete certainty.

"Didn't get wet, did you?" the Doctor asked. He circled her once then scanned her with his screwdriver and grinned. "Nope, not a drop!" he assured happily. "Excuse me a minute." He practically skipped out the doors to round up the others.

Steffi was still trying to catch up. "What is going on?" she stammered, staring at the door where they could hear the other crew then staring around the ship.

"I know this seems kind of… impossible," Viera admitted. "But if you can ignore the laws of physics," _or understand them better than any human I've ever met,_ "and accept that this ship can move through walls and over vast distances very quickly, it's all a lot easier to deal with." Steffi just looked at her and Viera offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "This is the ship that brought us to Mars. Now we're going to use it to get you all home."

"Home," Steffi murmured, hope beginning to shine in her eyes. "Truly?"

"Truly," Viera promised.

Three of the Mars crew stepped into the TARDIS then, and Viera turned her attention to them. Roman, Mia and Yuri stopped just inside the door and stared.

"It's bigger on the inside," she admitted readily, rather enjoying the looks on their faces. "It's perfectly safe though." Viera patted the console. "Promise."

"Wicked," Roman breathed, slipping past the couple to circle the TARDIS' controls.

"Don't touch anything," Viera warned. He made a noise of agreement but she watched him for a minute to make sure before glancing at the others. The couple had yet to move. "You can come in, you know. It's just a spaceship." _A remarkable spaceship,_ she thought, apologizing mentally to the TARDIS. _The best ship in any time, in any universe._

"They're going to take us home," Steffi spoke up. The others had been so caught up in the ship that they hadn't even noticed her until then. Roman looked up from the console with a relieved grin and Yuri just looked stunned.

"Steffi!" Mia cried, running forward. She threw her arms around the blood and started crying in relief and delayed fear. Yuri followed her, still looking around cautiously.

"Where are the Doctor and Captain Brooke?" Viera asked, frowning at the empty doorway.

"They had some things to take care of," Yuri stated absently. He patted Mia's back and kept scanning the room. "This is impossible."

Viera shook her head slightly and offered a smile. "Just improbable. We have a very… high tech ship, that's all."

"I'll say!" Roman agreed.

"Still not touching anything?" Viera asked, seeing his hands hovering near the controls. Roman gave her a sheepish grin and exaggerated putting his hands behind his back.

"We left our supplies out there," Steffi pointed out with a nod towards the door. "Are you certain you have enough for all of us during the trip back to Earth?"

Viera wondered just how much she should explain. She would have considered pretending the TARDIS was a normal ship and perhaps even making the trip to Earth the 'slow way', but she didn't think the Doctor would go for it.

"It's really not going to be that long of a trip," she admitted eventually. The others gave her puzzled looks, but no one had a chance to ask more questions before they were interrupted by a commotion from outside.

"Get in! In, in, in, in, in!" the Doctor yelled. Adelaide darted into the TARDIS, the Time Lord on her heels. The door closed behind them and the Doctor ran to the console immediately, ignoring the way Adelaide stopped and stared. "Give me a hand, Viera. We need to be gone!"

Viera moved to the console opposite him and pulled the levers he told her to. Roman darted around them, staring over both their shoulders, but he managed to stay out of their way. Between the two of them, they had the TARDIS taking off within moments.

Mia cried out in surprise as the ship shook, but Adelaide snapped at her to calm down. Viera wondered why she was so on edge when they'd just been rescued. But then again, that was sort of just how she was. And not everyone had survived long enough to get on the ship.

"It's alright!" the Doctor yelled over the noise of the TARDIS. "That was just the Mars complex blowing up."

"What?" cried several voices.

"Standard Action Proceedure Five," Captain Adelaide explained. "We had to make sure the parasite was taken care of."

Viera spared a moment to wonder if that bothered the Doctor. He didn't show it but… It was sort of genocide, wasn't it? It wasn't too different from his clone ending the Daleks, except this time it was a fixed event in time. Perhaps he could accept that.

After all, it was one thing to break the rules to save the crew, it was another to do it to save a parasite set on taking over the world. Wasn't it?

_She_ wouldn't be sad to know the Flood was gone at least. But then she hadn't been sorry to know the Daleks were dead either.

The Mars crew stayed out of the way as they piloted the TARDIS. Well, mostly the Doctor piloted and Viera followed instructions, but she still liked to think it went smoother with an extra pair of hands.

When the TARDIS shuddered to a stop and they stepped back from the controls, the others stared at them.

"Why have did you stop?" Yuri voiced their confusion.

The Doctor grinned and motioned to the door. "Take a look and see."

"We're in _space_," Mia pointed out incredulously. "You can't just-"

But then he'd jogged to the door and opened it himself. It wasn't space outside; it was snow. "Welcome home." No body moved and the Doctor tapped his hand against the door a bit impatiently. "Alright, everybody off," he urged.

A look of determination stole over Captain Brooke's face and she stalked to the door, hesitating only briefly at the threshold before stepping outside. Still stunned and uncertain, the others trickled out after her.

Roman was in awe again, walking around the TARDIS then glancing around him with a growing grin. The excitement of the near-impossible was welcome to him at least.

Steffi stopped to stare at the perfectly normal street they now stood on. A single tear dropped down her cheek as she held out a hand to catch the falling snow.

"That's my house," Adelaide murmured, staring at a nearby building.

"That it is," the Doctor agreed happily. He turned to look at the others; they all still looked shell-shocked, uncomprehending. "Don't you get it? This is the 21st of November, 2059. It's the same day. On Earth. You're _home_." He glanced at Adelaide and shrugged one shoulder a bit sheepishly. "Well, more or less." _She_ was home; the others likely lived some ways away.

"That's impossible," Mia whimpered, almost more disturbed than relieved. She stared at the Doctor, then at the TARDIS, shaking her head in denial.

"She's a very special ship," Viera soothed. "But you _are_ safe and sound, back on Earth. Isn't that a good thing?"

Mia stared at her, then looked at Yuri and nodded, calming a little.

"We should- We should contact someone at headquarters. Explain," Steffi said quietly. Her voice grew more hushed at the end, as though speaking her hopes might get them taken away. She looked like she afraid she was going to wake from a dream. "I'd like to call my girls."

"Good idea!" the Doctor agreed wholeheartedly, but they still looked to Captain Adelaide for permission.

She studied the Doctor with a frown, then nodded slowly to her remaining crew. "All right."

Mia was glad to get away; she started pulling Yuri down the street immediately. He stuck to her closely, but he took the time to look back and wave, nervous gratitude written on his face.

Steffi had no such qualms about speaking to the Doctor. "Thank you," she stated fervently.

The Doctor's enthusiasm softened to something gentler and he nodded. "Glad to help," he stated honestly. Steffi nodded to Viera as well, who smiled and waved a brief goodbye. Then Steffi was on her way, her thoughts already focused on the children she thought she'd never see again.

"That was _amazing_," Roman gushed, shaking the Doctor's hand, then Viera's enthusiastically. "That ship is incredible! I've never seen technology like that. Where did you get-"

"_Roman_," the Captain interrupted when it looked like he might spend the whole night asking questions. She gave him a quelling look and the young man stepped back with a slightly more subdued grin.

"Right. Leaving." Roman waved to them all and trotted a few steps down the street before turning back to admire the TARDIS one more time. "Really, just incredible…" they heard him say as he continued down the road and eventually out of sight.

Then it was just the three of them.

"You saved us," Adelaide stated, sounding far more troubled than grateful.

The Doctor didn't seem to notice. "Just think though, your daughter and her family, you can see them again. Family reunion!" he suggested with a grin.

"But I'm supposed to be _dead_," Adelaide insisted.

"Not anymore," stated the Doctor. The flicker of arrogance in his voice frightened Viera a little so soon after their argument in the TARDIS. For all that most of her believed they'd done the right thing saving them, she _knew_ some lines shouldn't be crossed and Viera wasn't entirely certain they hadn't just leapt right over one. She could see Adelaide's mind working along the same lines, and it worried her that the Doctor didn't seem to realize he needed to be careful with his words at the moment.

"...but Susie. My granddaughter. The person she's supposed to become... might never exist now."

_He really shouldn't have told her about the future_, Viera mused, watching the conversation with worry in her hazel eyes.

"Nah, Captain Adelaide can inspire her face-to-face. Different details, but the story's the same," the Doctor assured confidently.

"You can't _know _that. And if my family changes, then... The whole of history could change. The future of the Human race," Adelaide's worry left her angry and cold. "No one should have that much power."

"Tough," the Doctor declared. Viera finally elbowed him roughly in the stomach, prompting a grunt. Then she turned her attention to Adelaide. The determination she could see in the older woman scared her. If she couldn't convince her that things would be alright, Viera was worried she might do something drastic.

"Look, time can be rewritten. Yeah, there are rules and we broke one or two saving you, but that doesn't mean anything's ruined," Viera reasoned, tone almost pleading. "The station was still destroyed, taking those parasites or whatever they were with it. Your granddaughter can- _will_ still become exactly who she's meant to be."

"I don't believe in coincidence. The Doctor and I, we landed at the station for a reason. We didn't plan it. We were pulled there. I don't know if you believe in a greater power or fate, but I do. I think we were _supposed_ to save you. _Not_ because we're above the rules," Viera couldn't help but shoot a look at the Doctor, "but because Steffi deserves to live, because Mia and Yuri deserve a chance at a future together, because you deserve to see your granddaughter grow up and your family _needs_ you."

"They'd do just fine without me," Adelaide argued, but her vehemence had lessened slightly.

"They'd _survive_ without you. It's not the same thing," Viera murmured, thinking of her own family. "Trust me on that."

The Doctor was rubbing his ribs where she'd elbowed him, frowning at them both, but Adelaide at least seemed to be listening.

"We do the best we can, just like everyone else. And, yeah, sometimes we mess up, but I really don't think this time is one of them," Viera continued, trying to sound more confident than she felt. Adelaide needed her to be certain. "We haven't destroyed history. Humanity is meant to reach for the stars. It'll still happen the way it was meant to."

"You can't know that," Adelaide repeated tiredly.

Viera bit her lip, knowing she was right. The humming in the back of her mind grew and she glanced back at the TARDIS. "Yes we can," she murmured before turning back to Adelaide, excited to have found some sort of solution. With great relief she felt the knot of worry lodged in her heart finally loosened. "Look, we'll jump into the future. If we've changed things too much, if this really has ruined things, we'll come back and fix it. We'll- we'll take you with us before dawn. They'll think you died on Mars and it will all go back to normal." She felt a bit uncomfortable at inviting Adelaide along without asking the Doctor, but really, what else was she supposed to do? Besides, it was _their_ mess. It was their job to fix it.

Adelaide looked a little uncertain, but she was staring at her house with more longing than fear.

"So if you don't show up before dawn…"

"Then it's perfectly safe to talk to your family," the Doctor replied. He tilted his head towards her house. "Ah, it's all locked up; you've been away. Still, that's easy." Still showing off a bit he pointed the screwdriver towards the house. There was a click and the front door popped open and a light turned on upstairs. "All yours."

Adelaide was staring at the Doctor with a worried frown. Viera thought perhaps the Doctor's power still bothered her. It was bothering Viera a bit at the moment actually. He'd lost the carefulness that usually underlie even his reckless adventuring. The arrogance made her nervous, but she didn't let it show.

"It's just a screwdriver," Viera stated.

"_Just_ a screwdriver?" the Doctor questioned, somewhat offended. "It's a very useful _sonic_ screwdriver. How many scrapes has this gotten us out of? _Just_ a screwdriver," he scoffed. His pouting brought a smile to Viera's face. _There_ was her familiar Doctor.

Adelaide's expression had lightened as well. "Fine," she agreed abruptly. "But if this goes wrong it's on all our heads." With that grim warning, Captain Adelaide Brooke walked away.

"Well, that's that," the Doctor stated, rocking back on his heels. Viera frowned slightly at his lighthearted tone. She still didn't think he got it; he was on a high from breaking the rules and seemingly getting away with it."

"We still have to make sure we didn't destroy human history as we know it," Viera reminded, starting back to the TARDIS ahead of him.

"Everything's fine," the Doctor assured, catching up easily with his long-legged stride. "Don't worry so much. I've got it all in hand."

It made her angry and a little bit sick to hear the pride in his voice. She'd had an awful day, one that knocked him off the pedestal she tended to keep him on, and the Doctor didn't even seem to be aware of it. Viera didn't answer; she just walked a little faster. The Doctor's confident swagger faltered when she refused to meet his eyes, even after they'd gotten inside. He watched silently as she fiddled with the TARDIS controls, fully intending to take a jump into the future with or without his help.

"Was it really so bad?" the Doctor asked after a couple minutes of being completely ignored. Viera was relieved to hear the slight hesitation; maybe he'd actually listen this time.

"Wasn't exactly our best day," she stated shortly, double-checking the TARDIS settings. She wasn't as comfortable as she liked to pretend, driving the TARDIS without his input.

The Doctor's next question was quiet enough to finally prompt Viera to lift her gaze from the controls. "Did I really scare you?"

"People who play God always scare me, benevolent or not. '_Time Lord Triumphant_?'" she emphasized. Viera's voice shook, just remembering. It wasn't even so much the confrontation that had gotten to her. It was how different the Doctor had seemed, reckless and dangerous and wild. For a moment she'd been scared he was changing in a way that couldn't be undone, that she was losing him. Viera hadn't recognized that cold, arrogant man proclaiming himself above it all. He'd been a stranger, and _that_ was what had been terrifying. She wasn't sure she could trust the man that he'd been the past day, and she hated that he'd made her doubt him. That wasn't entirely fair of her, she knew, but she couldn't help it. "You are not God," she reiterated forcefully. "You're not infallible or all-knowing no matter how powerful you are."

"I know that," he dismissed, turning away to adjust a few of the controls.

"Do you?" Viera pushed, watching him. "Because that wasn't the impression you were giving back there. Adelaide looked about three minutes from doing something _really_ stupid to try to correct what we'd done."

That got his full attention. He looked up and stopped whatever he was doing with the switches. "What do you mean?"

"Humans have a self-destruct button too, you know. If she thought it was the right thing to do, Adelaide's the sort of person who'd pull the trigger," Viera pointed out, her voice still strained with the fear of what might have been. "It'd be no different for her than punching in the code 5 at the station."

And just like that, the arrogance was gone. Finally he began to see the repercussions of his arrogance. It was a brusque reminder of all the reasons the Time Lords had made the laws in the first place, all the other ways things could have gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Doctor paled and slowly moved to slump down on the bench, looking rather sick as he dug his fingers through his hair.

"I've gone too far," he muttered after a long moment.

"Maybe a little," Viera agreed even as her tone softened. Her anger washed away with the remnants of his overconfidence. He was familiar again, once more the Doctor she knew, admired and trusted completely. He finally understood what had scared her, and she felt no more need to prod at that particular wound. She hesitated only a moment before sitting down next to him, close enough that their shoulders were touching. "I meant what I said about believing we were supposed to save them. Just… no more power trips, alright? Freaks me out." Her tone slid into careful teasing, and she nudged him.

"I'm dangerous, Viera," he insisted quietly, almost monotone.

"Only if you choose to be," she replied honestly. The Doctor grimaced. "You know if you ever need reminding you're not God, I'll be here. Knock you down a peg. Keep you human. …Metaphorically." That pulled a slight smile from him.

Viera would rather have just moved on, but if what they'd done had consequences, it was probably better to face them right away. "We should probably go check, shouldn't we?" she questioned. "Make sure we didn't _really_ end the world as we knew it."

The Doctor took a deep breath and shook his head. "Details changed, but the story mostly works out the same in the end. Adelaide's granddaughter still reaches for the stars and neither Roman's or Mia and Yuri's families change enough to throw the path of human history off course."

He sounded so certain, as though he wasn't guessing at all. "How do you know?" Viera asked curiously.

"Time Lord," the Doctor replied with a shrug. He motioned to his head. "I can see it change."

"But you remember the way it was before too?"

"You see things from a different perspective as a time traveller," he explained. "Time's not linear so you remember things differently."

Viera accepted his word for it, not really needing to know exactly how that worked. All that mattered was that they hadn't ruined things irreparably. She breathed a sigh of relief and fatigue.

"Can we please not do that again?" she asked wearily. "I don't like not being sure of what's right and what's wrong."

"I'm afraid that's just life." He gave a brief laugh and draped his arm around her shoulders so she could lean into him. "All the same I'd rather not test my luck against the laws of time and reality again," the Doctor admitted.

"Any other laws, of course, are fair game," Viera mused, thinking about the laws of different societies they'd broken on their travels.

"Yes, well, _some_ rules are meant to be broken." They shared a smile. Neither was in a hurry to move, so they stayed on the bench a while, determinedly mulling over what _was_ rather than what might have been.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Watching this, I think it's implied that the Doctor's mistake on Mars was proof he shouldn't travel alone, that he needed someone to stop him. I toyed with the idea, but for all that she's a good girl who sticks to the rules, Viera's simply not the sort of person who could stand in the Doctor's way, especially in a situation where people's lives are on the line, even if maybe she should. If it was _his_ decision to leave them, she'd have followed trustingly, but being the one to convince him to leave people to die would haunt her and she knows it.

Should there be consequences for their breaking the rules, saving people who were supposed to be dead? I don't know. I haven't really worked that out yet.

I had a hard time with this one, trying to get Viera to rein the Doctor in when she didn't believe his choice was the wrong one, just his reasoning for it. How'd I do?


	32. 9:1 Wedding Bells

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

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_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**Sarah Jane Smith: "Battle of Wonderland" by Corner Stone Cues**

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PART NINE – WEDDING BELLS

Chapter One – Time Trap

Viera hadn't really stopped thinking about the prophesy since Carmen had spoken it. Regeneration sounded handy, but she wasn't ready to lose _her_ Doctor. Viera had gone to the TARDIS for help, making good use of the databanks and the library. The Doctor didn't ask what she was researching so diligently and she didn't offer the information. They didn't talk about the prophesy at all. If avoidance and escapism could help ease the shadows she saw in his eyes more and more often, then the Doctor was welcome to it.

Besides, the Doctor's deliberate lack of interest made it far easier to hide the fact that she was researching the other options as well. She had a feeling he wouldn't much approve of what she was considering. So when he jogged into the console room, she quickly closed down the program she was using and gave him her full attention.

"We've got a bit of a problem," the Doctor stated without any preamble. He was focused, not panicked, so Viera told herself to stay calm.

"All right," she said carefully as she watched him set the TARDIS controls. "How big is this 'bit'?"

The Doctor's expression darkened. "Something is after Sarah Jane."

_Oh._ It was a bad idea to mess with the people the Doctor cared about. Not that he didn't care about everybody, but his past companions were special. "What do we do?"

The determination in his eyes didn't waver, but the Doctor grinned at her complete willingness to throw herself into the fray with him for the sake of another. "We stop them."

Then he pulled down the last lever and they were off.

Viera still didn't really have any idea when they were headed, or even where, though she'd guess Earth. It took them several tries to land, which Viera had never seen before. The Doctor would protest and reorient the TARDIS then try again. When she questioned the phenomenon he said he'd explain later. The third time was the charm. Once they'd landed the Doctor was in too much of a hurry to tell her. She simply followed as he raced out of the TARDIS.

Viera barely even had time to be startled when she followed the Doctor into a room full of people and saw Sarah Jane standing at the front in a wedding dress.

"Stop this wedding now!" the Doctor commanded at the top of his lungs. The whole room turned to stare, muttering in confusion. The only person Viera recognized aside from Sarah was Luke until K-9 slipped out from under a table with a happy chirp.

_Is the 'something' after Sarah Jane her fiancé?_ she thought, trying to get her mind to catch up. _What's going on?_

A powerful wind began to blow despite the fact that all the windows were closed. It pushed at Viera and the Doctor, strong enough to keep them from moving forward.

"Danger! Danger, Mistress!" K-9 warned.

"Sarah! Get away from him!" the Doctor yelled, reaching for the bride who was very much out of reach.

Sarah leaned away from her fiancé, but the man kept hold of her arms. He didn't _look_ dangerous, or even threatening. He said something to her, but Viera couldn't hear it over the sound of rushing wind.

"_Sarah!_" the Doctor called again. Something in the fabric of the universe shifted and Viera felt a wave of dizziness as a tall, white-cloaked figure coalesced in the corner. "Trickster, let her go!" the Doctor spat in its direction.

"Too late, Time Lord," the creature gloated. Its voice grated on Viera's ears. Its tan face had no eyes, no nostrils, only a sharp-toothed mouth. The wind pushed harder at Viera and it was all she could do to stand her ground. They couldn't do anything for Sarah Jane as the Trickster reached for her with a pleased hum. "Sarah Jane. You're mine. Mine forever."

"_SARAH!"_ the Doctor screamed. He struggled harder against the wind and Sarah tried to reach back, but the world shifted again and the Trickster vanished, taking Sarah and her fiancé with it.

The moment they were gone, the wind was too. Viera stumbled as the force she was struggling against gave way. The Doctor kept his feet better and raced forward, but it was too late. Sarah was gone.

That wasn't the only problem. Viera's stomach twisted as the universe churned in the wake of whatever the Trickster had done. Bewildering waves of disorder spread from the pulpit where they'd disappeared. Even the normal humans in the crowd felt it. Viera could barely keep her breakfast down.

"Viera!" Urgency lent the Doctor's words volume. She raised her head to see him holding out a hand. Her insides felt like they were curling in on themselves in protest and all she wanted to do was curl up and wait for it to pass, but the Doctor was calling for her, so Viera forced her legs to move.

She grabbed hold of his hand. He pulled Viera close and she let him hold her up, trying not to focus on the shifting world around her.

The next thing she knew, the Doctor was calling her name. There was a cool hand against her cheek and she wondered, not for the first time, why Time Lords' skin was cooler than humans'. She had never gotten around to asking.

"Viera. Wake up. Come on."

She sighed softly and let the Doctor's voice coax her back into full consciousness. A faint sense of dizziness settled in with her awareness of the world around her, but it wasn't strong enough to be crippling. Her hazel eyes squinted up at the Doctor and he smiled.

"There you are. Can you sit up?" he urged. His voice was as gentle as the hands that helped her up, but Viera could hear the urgency underneath.

"Sarah?" she asked.

"We'll get her back," the Doctor stated, his words a promise as binding as anything.

"What is going on?" a younger voice demanded. Viera finally looked around to see Luke, a dark-skinned teen and a dark-haired girl standing nearby. It was the girl who had spoken.

"Now there's a question," Viera agreed, rubbing absently at her temple where a headache was starting to set in. She grimaced as she tried to climb to her feet and had to lean heavily against the Doctor.

"Who are you people?" the other teenager asked, looking about as lost as Viera felt.

"He's the Doctor," Luke replied, motioning to the Time Lord. He gave Viera a slightly apologetic look; they'd seen each other, but he had no reason to know her name.

"I'm Viera," she stated with a faint smile.

"And you must be Clyde!" the Doctor greeted the black teen, holding out a hand without moving away from Viera. She was grateful; she might have just fallen over if. Clyde looked even more confused, but he shook the Doctor's hand anyways. "And that will be Rani!" The Doctor greeted the girl in much the same manner.

"Wait, you're _the_ Doctor. Sarah's Doctor?" Rani asked, beginning to understand.

"That'd be me," he agreed enthusiastically. He helped Viera to a chair and watched her just long enough to make sure she seemed steady before turning his attention to their current situation. He scanned the area where Sarah had been standing with his screwdriver, then darted to the back of the room and knelt on the carpet to look at it from a different angle.

"I hope you're as good as Sarah Jane says you are," Clyde stated.

"Welll…" the Doctor drawled, a bit of smugness seeping into his voice. "You know journalists, always exaggerating. But yeah… I'm pretty amazing on a good day."

_And there goes his ego,_ Viera thought as she tried to fight off the fond smile creeping across her face. He _was_ good, of course, but that didn't mean he needed to be reminded of that _too_ often.

Although it couldn't hurt to give the teenagers a reason to stay calm and trust him.

"Master. Query," K-9's robotic voice chirped. The little dog robot rolled forward. "Where is mistress Sarah Jane?"

"K-9!" the Doctor exclaimed. He knelt to greet the metal dog, pursing his lips to coo at it in a silly voice like some people did at dogs and babies. "Did you miss me? Did you miss me, hey?"

"Doctor. Focus?" Viera reminded him, beginning to feel a great deal better as her body acclimated to the way the universe had shifted. "Where _is_ everyone?"

"_When_," the Doctor corrected, straightening. "That's the real question. Or rather, when are we?"

"What?" Clyde asked.

"All right," said Luke. "When _are_ we? What happened?"

"There's been a dimensional shift. Time's moved on, but us… We've been left behind," the Doctor explained.

Rani's eyes were on the window. "There's nothing out there."

All Viera could see from where she sat was white. She'd assumed that was just bright sunlight, but perhaps… perhaps that was really all there was.

"I knew, all along," muttered Clyde. As the others stared out the window, the Doctor wandered away, looking out the other windows. "I knew there was something wrong with all of this. And what exactly is going on?"

"I'll explain later," the Doctor stated absently, running his fingers along the edges of the window. The teenagers stalked over to him, but Viera stayed seated. If they were going to have to run any time in the near future, and she was rather certain they would, she'd need to conserve her strength. She still felt strange, though at least now she knew why. Being torn from the normal course of the universe was a bit jarring. She stayed quiet as they all started talking at once, aggravating her headache.

The Doctor shushed them with the help of a noisemaker he pulled from one of his bigger-on-the-inside pockets.

_What all does he have in there, anyways?_

"Here's the answer to all your questions," the Doctor stated, never mind that they'd all been talking over each other and Viera hadn't understood a word of it. "Yes, that was the Trickster. Yes, we're trapped. Yes, I'm the only one who can get us out of the trap. Yes, I'm going to bring Sarah Jane, and your mum and dad, and all the others back safe, but I can't do any of it without you." He pointed his noisemaker at the teenagers. While Viera couldn't see their faces from where she sat, she could imagine their expressions. The Doctor could be a little overwhelming, but wonderfully so. She _could_ see them straightening a little, finding just a bit more confidence in themselves as the Doctor offered his trust.

"You… need us?" Clyde clarified.

"Just like Sarah Jane needs you."

"But my Mum and Dad. Where are they?" Rani asked worriedly.

Luke leaned in to calm her. "Just… go along with him, Rani. I saw them save the world."

"You helped us save the world, Luke-y boy!" the Doctor exclaimed proudly. He patted Luke's cheeks, then stepped back, enthusiasm firmly in place. "Right! Viera, how're you doing?" he called, as though his voice wouldn't carry through the empty room otherwise.

"I'd be better if you stopped shouting," Viera teased, standing to prove she could. She was pleased to find that her legs held her steady as she walked over.

"Sorry," the Doctor replied as a matter of course, grinning at her lighthearted tone. "Right. Come on! We can use the TARDIS," he declared, just a touch less loud. He started to run out of the room, then stopped to look at the teenagers. Viera kept walking; she could probably use the head start anyways.

"I assume everyone knows what the TARDIS _is_," she heard him say behind her. "Unless you've _really_ not been paying attention." Then there was the sound of trampling feet, a near stampede that passed her quickly. "Allons-y!" the Doctor urged as he threw a grin over his shoulder.

Viera shook her head but ran to keep up. _I've never seen anyone thrive so much on chaos._

"Oh, no, no, no-no-no-no-no-no-no," the Doctor stumbled to a halt. Viera groaned when she saw that he was looking at a very empty space where the TARDIS should have been. "It was there! It was right there!" he protested.

"What's plan B?" Viera asked with a slight grimace.

Then the familiar sound of the TARDIS gears filled the air and the Doctor stepped back, putting his arms out to keep them all safely behind him. The beautiful blue police box shimmered into existence, then back out again like it was struggling to land on its own. She could hear the strain in the whispers of its song. Viera stepped forward without thinking and the Doctor grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch it," he warned.

"That noise," Rani murmured. "I've heard it before."

"That was us, trying to break through," the Doctor explained. "We were knocked back by the Trickster."

_Well that answers one question._ "Is that what it's doing now?" Viera asked, discomforted by the ship's struggle.

"Temporal schism is preventing TARDIS materialization," K-9 replied.

"Wait a minute," interrupted Clyde. "_That's_ the TARDIS? It's just a wooden box."

The incredulous disappointment in his voice was probably understandable, but Viera felt offended despite her best efforts to the contrary. "It's not a _box_, it's camouflage. The best ship in the universe is hiding in there."

The Doctor didn't take his gaze from the TARDIS. "Come on," he urged, his muscles tensing like he could somehow help pull it through. "You can do it. More power! Come on!" The sound of the TARDIS grew more labored as it tried to push through, to settle into the fold of reality where they currently existed, but it was no good. With a final definite grind it disappeared.

"Alright," the Doctor sighed. "Got no TARDIS." He turned around, chewing on his lip as he thought things through. "It can't materialize here until time moves forward."

"Can we move time forward?" Viera asked. She didn't like being stranded without the ship. It happened far too often for her tastes.

The Doctor made a face and tilted his head in a way that usually meant 'yes, but it would be very complicated and perhaps almost-but-not-quite impossible'.

"So we're trapped here?" Rani protested.

"No," said the Doctor. "Cause look what I've got. I've got K-9."

"Affirmative, Master," chirped the robot dog.

"And I've got you four."

"And a screwdriver," Viera added with a smile. "And a noisemaker. And whatever else you've got hidden in those coat pockets of yours."

"Exactly!" the Doctor agreed.

"But where _are_ we? What happened to the rest of the world?" Clyde asked.

"Our present location: nowhere, nowhen," K-9 supplied.

"No_when_?" Luke asked.

"Look at the clocks," the Doctor suggested. There was a tall grandfather clock in the hallway, and they all turned to look. The second hand clicked forward and fell back in the same movement. The teenagers made sounds of astonishment.

"This second's on a loop," Luke deduced.

"And we're caught inside it," agreed the Doctor. "In this one second."

"But, again, where's Sarah Jane?" pressed Clyde.

"I think… she's right here," murmured the Doctor, his gaze going distant.

_Here? But that's-_ Viera eyed the Doctor as her brain processed another possibility. Like he'd pointed out before, 'where' wasn't necessarily the right question. "All right. _When_ is Sarah Jane?"

The Doctor beamed at her. "_That's_ the question. I think she's here, just in a slightly different time."

"If only we could time travel," Viera mused, frowning slightly at the spot where the TARDIS had been.

He grimaced in agreement then set about inspecting the hallway and the stairs. Viera would have helped if she'd had any idea whatsoever what he was looking for.

Rani thought aloud, trying to figure out a few missing details. "So we've been kept behind in this second. But the rest of the world, Mom and Dad and everyone else, they've moved on from here, going forwards in time. _Why_ has the Trickster trapped us here?" She directed the question at the Doctor, who was, at the moment, on his hands and knees inspecting things from the perspective of the carpet.

"Oh, come on, Rani," the Doctor chided as he stood. "You know the answer to that." He took off his glasses and coat and handed them to Viera before racing part way up the stairs.

"We're Sarah Jane's friends. Her best friends."

"Yeah! Which means-" the Doctor prompted.

"Hostages! He can use us to get at her!" Rani concluded.

Clyde was mulling things over as well. "We've met the Trickster before, but we've never actually found out who he is."

"Trickster is a creature from beyond the universe," the Doctor replied. He jogged down the stairs and glanced at Viera. "Remember that beetle, the one that Donna had?" Viera wrinkled her nose expressively; she remembered. "That was a member of the Trickster's Brigade. The Trickster keeps trying to break into this reality, manifest himself. He's one of the Pantheon of Discord."

"That's a good name for a band," Clyde observed.

"It looked to me like he'd already manifested pretty well," Viera pointed out.

The Doctor shook his head. "That's not his true form, just all he can fit into this reality right now."

"What does he want with Sarah Jane?"

"He exists to wreak havoc," said the Doctor, leading her to answer for herself.

"And Sarah Jane gets in his way," Viera realized. The tone was getting a bit grim, so the Doctor amped up his enthusiasm.

"But we can fight him! The six of us!" There was a beeping and the Doctor reached into his jacket with an exclamation. He pulled out the screwdriver, blinking and beeping steadily. "That's it! A time trace. Just leading to Sarah Jane." The Doctor followed the screwdriver and the rest of them followed him. "Oh, she's close."

The screwdriver kept leading him around the room and eventually the rest of them just stopped to watch. Finally the screwdriver buzzed an affirmation. "She's here!" the Doctor cried. "She's here! _Sarah!_"

"Sarah Jane," Rani corrected. "She doesn't like being called Sarah."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "She does by me." His fierce brown eyes were glued to the faintly wavering blue light of the screwdriver. A moment later he called for help. "K-9!"

"Coming, Master."

"_Doctor."_ Sarah Jane's voice echoed through the hall and the teenagers crowded to the Doctor's side.

"K-9! Isolate the time trace," the Doctor commanded, kneeling next to the little robot.

"Affirmative, Master." K-9 responded. "Temporal schism divided in two, Master."

"So I was right," he murmured. "She's here, just trapped in another second. The Trickster didn't want us helping Sarah, so he separated us."

"_Doctor."_ Sarah's voice echoed from farther away than the last time.

"Ooh, she's upstairs," the Doctor observed. He was still for just a moment, listening, then he was all motion again. "Come on! Luke, K-9, you watch for the TARDIS. You see it coming back, shout the place down." He eyed the faint signs of pain around Viera's eyes and pointed to a nearby chair. "You too. Stay," he ordered in a tone that expected to be obeyed. She didn't have any real reason not to, aside from the usual worry that he would get in over his head, so Viera nodded. Her headache was getting worse anyways. The Doctor turned to Clyde and Rani. "You two with me." And he darted up the stairs with the teenagers fast on his heels.

Viera slumped into the chair with a sigh, glad to be off her feet.

"Are you all right?" Luke asked worriedly.

Viera smiled at him. "I'm fine. Just a little sensitive to beings mucking about with the fabric of the universe. We'll get out of this second and I'll be right as rain."

They waited quietly for a while. Luke began to pace and Viera found herself straining to hear what was going on upstairs. That was the only reason she even noticed the sound of the TARDIS; it wasn't coming from in front of them.

"Upstairs!" she told Luke, scrambling out of her chair. "Come on!" She led the way, faltering only momentarily when they hit the stairs. "Sorry K-9," Viera apologized. She didn't know if it could handle stairs but it looked too heavy to carry and she was in a hurry.

She and Luke raced up the stairs and back into the room where it had all started. The others were standing there, safe and sound, staring at the corner where a patch of blue was trying to push through the time trap.

"Come to join the party?" the Doctor asked as Viera reached his side. He didn't look away from the laboring TARDIS, but he gripped her hand when her fingers brushed against his. She wondered what had happened while they'd been apart.

"What's happening?" Luke asked. The TARDIS was crackling with blue energy. Viera could faintly hear it hissing in time with the TARDIS' song, strengthening its struggle.

"Look at that! Pure arkon energy! TARDIS power!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Also, the Trickster's power. That's how we can fight it!" Then he darted for the TARDIS, pulling Viera along with him.

Between the TARDIS forcing its way in and the time trap trying to push it back out, the air around the blue box was awhirl with violent energy. The very air they breathed seemed charged. Viera clung to the Doctor's hand and pressed herself against the ship, desperate for refuge. Fragments of crackling blue energy slid into her power channels without her trying to pull them in. They sank beneath her skin, charging her nerves with pinpricks of awareness. She thought it ought to have been painful, but it really just felt strange. She was blind for the moment, only aware of the wild energy around her and the all-encompassing, vibrant song of the TARDIS carried through every blue spark.

Then suddenly she was inside the TARDIS, protected by its shields. Viera found herself clutching at the railing and blinking spots from her eyes. Her vision was back but it took her a moment longer to hear anything aside from the song.

There was yelling beside her. She looked to find the Doctor clinging to the door, stretching out his hand towards the three teenagers left in the room. The Trickster's wind had come back and it was pushing them away.

It was pushing the TARDIS away as well. The ship's grip on the time trap slipped. The Doctor was jarred back inside and a tremor ran through the TARDIS as it was shoved away, free of the second they'd been trapped in for what felt like hours. Leaving the teenagers behind.

"No, no, no-no-no!" the Doctor cried out in frustration, running to the console. He tried a few levers, then checked the computer screen, muttering to himself.

Very carefully Viera pried her stiff hands off the rails.

"All right?" the Doctor asked, one worry struggling to top another in his gaze. Viera nodded so he could get back to work. She considered her condition carefully then decided she'd been telling the truth. She felt a dazed but otherwise unharmed.

"Breaking out of a time trap is one thing," Viera mused. "Can we break in the same way?"

The Doctor shook his head. "The TARDIS was honing in on us. Now that we're out..."

Viera flexed her tingling fingers and frowned. "What about Sarah Jane? The TARDIS knows her."

His expression turned fiercely determined as he nodded. "Worth a shot."

It was even harder trying to coax the TARDIS into the time trap than it had been trying to reach Sarah's wedding in the first place. The ship shuddered and shook and sent Viera tumbling to her knees a few times, despite her efforts to cling the console. _Finally_ they reached a weak spot and the Doctor darted for the door. Viera was busy trying to hold the levers down where they belonged, but she listened as the Doctor leaned out and spoke to Sarah.

"Sarah! Quickly, the TARDIS can't stabilize. Clyde is keeping the Trickster busy at the moment. Oh, those three are just brilliant."

He was really did love his companions. Even the teens whom he'd only just met. There was awe and pride in his voice as he found time to admire the humans who had crossed his path.

She couldn't hear the other end of the conversation and the Doctor's voice grew too quiet for her to hear over the sound of the struggling TARDIS. Viera did what she could, but it wasn't enough to buy them more than a few more moments. The ship was tossed from the time trap once more.

"Blast!" the Doctor growled as the door slammed shut. His frantic energy was faded; his expression was full of pained empathy.

"Doctor?" she questioned softly.

He took a deep breath and returned to the console. "This is going to break her heart," he admitted, the ache he felt evident in every quiet word. "But there isn't another way. I couldn't see another way."

She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, but Viera still didn't know what was going on. "What's going to happen?"

"The only way out of the Trickster's trap is to break its bargain," the Doctor sighed. "It made a deal to save Sarah's fiancé's life."

_And when she breaks it, he'll die._ "Oh," Viera gasped. What else was there to say. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. But sometimes there just wasn't another choice. "Oh no..."

The Doctor was grim as he adjusted the controls and pushed the TARDIS forward once more. It strained against the barrier keeping it away.

Then without any warning the barrier vanished. The TARDIS landed easily, just where they had wanted. The Doctor gritted his teeth and headed for the door. Viera jogged to catch up and grabbed his hand on the way. She didn't have any other comfort to offer.

They met Rani and Luke on their way and the whole group ran up the stairs to find Sarah Jane. Her fiancé was gone and there was no sign of the Trickster. Sarah was bowed the still form of Clyde, tears in her eyes.

"Mom!" Luke shouted as they rushed in. He knelt with Rani to inspect Clyde. Viera released the Doctor so he could go to Sarah.

"Doctor," Sarah gasped, a sob caught in her throat. He wrapped an arm around her and cradled her close.

"My Sarah Jane," the Doctor murmured. "You did it. The trap's broken. Time's moving forward again."

Something bumped against Viera's leg and she looked down to see K-9. He'd managed the stairs at some point apparently. A tremor shook the room and the Doctor gestured them closer. Viera knelt and tucked an arm around the little robot dog. She was very relieved to see Clyde's eyes open wide as the ground beneath them shook.

"We're going home. We're all going home."

And just like that Viera found herself back in the hallway with the Doctor, none of the others in sight.

"What happened?"

"With the trap undone, we all go back to where we started." He stared at the door that led to the wedding room for a long moment, then shook his head. "Come on. Back to the TARDIS."

"Aren't we going to say goodbye?" Viera asked even as she took his outstretched hand and followed.

"Not here," was all he said.

It was a short trip to Sarah's house, but it was enough time for the Doctor's mood to lift a little. The pain he felt as Sarah's sorrow was buried deeper, to be dealt with later or, more likely, ignored until it went away.

The TARDIS landed smoothly, something for which Viera's bruised knees were quite grateful. The Doctor trotted over to the door and peered out.

"What do you take me for, Sarah?" he asked, finishing part of a conversation they hadn't heard. "I just thought I'd take the short way. Oh, I like it in here."

Viera nudged him out of the doorway so she could see. The room looked quite homey and normal aside from the robot dog and the giant computer on one wall. Then again, for them that was normal. She gave a little wave to the teenagers staring at them.

"Can we have a look?" Rani asked immediately.

"What, in the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked, as though he didn't know. "_My_ TARDIS?" They all stared at his raised voice and Viera raised her eyebrows. His fierce look vanished and he smirked mischievously. "Course you can."

Viera ducked back inside to get out of the way as the trio of teens stepped into the ship. She grinned at their awe, feeling a surge of pride despite the fact that none of the ship was her doing. She thought she felt pleasure in the TARDIS' song as well.

She glanced at the Doctor and Sarah as they stood together, but she gave them space. Viera didn't know how to ease Sarah's grief or how to pretend well enough that it hadn't happened. And really, at the moment, they both needed each other more than her anyways.

Eventually the teenagers had their fill of the console room and asked for a trip. The Doctor looked a bit stumped, not sure he could say no but not entirely sure he wanted to say yes either. Viera could just imagine the trouble the seven of them could get into together.

Fortunately, or perhaps disappointingly, Sarah vetoed the idea and shooed the teens off the ship. She started to go after them, but paused a moment more to speak with the Doctor.

"Is this the last time I'm ever going to see you?" Sarah asked falteringly.

Viera flinched. She knew Sarah meant whether she'd see the Doctor at all, whether he'd come back again, but the question resounded with memories of the prophesy. She couldn't help but wonder if, even if the Doctor came back, whether it'd be _this_ Doctor or a regeneration. Then, more reluctantly, she wondered if there would be _any_ Doctor who survived to come back.

"I don't know," the Doctor stated honestly. "I hope not."

Sarah smiled briefly and nodded. "Goodbye, Doctor. Until the next time," she added hopefully.

The Doctor's voice was solemn as he made a request. "Don't forget me, Sarah Jane."

"No one's _ever_ going to forget you," Sarah promised. Then she left and the Doctor turned away from the door.

Viera could only watch him struggle in silence for a moment before she tried to cheer him up. She shifted close enough to bump her shoulder against his and looked up at him earnestly. "You promised to take me to see the banana groves, remember?"

The Doctor knew what she was doing, but he went along with it gratefully. "I like bananas," he mused, an honest smile flickering at the corners of his mouth.

"So do I."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Surprise! I wasn't sure I'd actually get around to doing this part, but Zim'sMostLoyalServant asked me if I was still planning on it, so I decided to give it a try. Amazingly enough, I didn't hit writer's block this time, though really, that could be because I didn't attempt to change much. Viera's kinda just along for the ride on this one. Nevertheless, there you have it. A chapter written in a day.

And that's _really_ the end of this story. Go read the sequel if you haven't already. ;)


	33. Interlude: Ianto

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**The Torchwood Three: "Vintage" by Break of Reality**

* * *

INTERLUDE: PHONE CALLS & FRIENDSHIPS

Ianto

* * *

There were different sorts of chaos, Viera mused. There was the cheerful chaos of a room full of three year olds or an excited Doctor, there was the almost-organized chaos of a military organization trying to do too much too fast, then there was the frantic chaos of people in complete panic. _This_ somehow managed to be all three.

Viera stood pressed against the closed doors of the TARDIS watching a packed room full of blue-skinned aliens dart around frantically. One of the walls was covered in computer screens displaying predictions and reports that she didn't understand. Nearly half the crowd was scientists while the other half was soldiers. The military leaders were trying to keep everyone calm and organized, shouting orders over the noise. Their world was threatening to end, and everyone who stood a chance at stopping it had been crammed into this one large conference room.

In the center of it all was the Doctor, darting from computer to computer. His mood had gone from worried frustration to excitement to something very close to absolute glee in the last few minutes, which Viera took to mean that the world wouldn't be ending after all.

There wasn't anything to run from or an enemy they could face this time. It was all science and technology that was all completely over Viera's head. For the moment she'd settled on simply staying out of the way and trying to ignore how useless she was in such situations.

Vibration from the cell phone in her pocket made her jump. Viera dug the mobile out of her jeans and ducked into the TARDIS. She left the door open so she could see the Doctor in case she was needed for any reason, but once she'd fiddled with the shield a bit it blocked out most of the noise.

Blessed quiet finally spread through the room and she flipped open the buzzing phone. "Hello?"

_"Viera. Hi,"_ Ianto sounded a bit anxious, starting a concerned frown on Viera's lips. He sighed and got right to the point. _"I don't suppose you've seen Jack?"_

"Not recently," Viera said truthfully. "He's missing?"

_"Yes. No. I don't know,"_ Ianto struggled, his words heavy with frustration. _"He's not answering his phone and no one has seen him for a while. I thought maybe he'd gone off with you again. Of course, maybe he's just taken off for a while."_

He sounded as worried as he did frustrated. Viera bit her lip and prayed that it wasn't anything serious. At the very least, they knew Jack wasn't dead. Assuming no one had found a way around that particular quirk. "Do you really think he'd do that?"

Ianto sighed on the other end of the line. _"I don't know. He's been weird lately. Well, not __**lately**__ exactly. It's been going on for a while now. Sometimes he won't let me out of his sight. He gets so overprotective that he loses it if anyone so much as looks at me wrong. And it's not that I mind him wanting to be close, but he can get almost smothering. Other times…"_ Ianto's voice got quieter, frustration bleeding into hurt. _"Other times it's like we're not even together anymore. He won't talk to me. He hardly looks at me. He gets so distant… He's never been gone this long, but this isn't the first time he's taken off alone," _he admitted.

Viera was quiet for a minute, not sure how much she should say. She didn't know Jack _that_ well after all. Did she really have the right to guess at his motives? Or to spill things that were rightfully his to share? The note of forlornness in Ianto's voice made up her mind.

"When you say it's been going on for a while, you mean since you died, right?" she asked quietly.

_"Yeah."_

"I don't know if anyone's told you how badly he was shaken up by that, but I _felt_ it." She shook her head at herself, remembering that Ianto had seen her memories. "Do you remember?"

_"Yeah."_ The reply was quieter, hoarse.

"And you know he can't die." She'd known when she'd brought him back, so Ianto had to know. "He knows he's going to outlive you. Maybe it scares him enough that he tries to push you away, but then he can't stand that and he's scared to lose you so he sticks close again." It made sense to her, in a way, and from the sigh on the other end of the line she'd guess Ianto understood too.

_"I don't appreciate being treated like a yo-yo," _Ianto griped, the frustration still present, if subdued. At least the hurt in his voice had faded.

Viera hummed quietly in thought. "Maybe you should tell Jack that."

_"He won't talk to me about any of it, or even stand still and listen while __**I**__ talk."_

"Then lock him in a room somewhere and _make_ him listen," Viera suggested. "Before he drives the both of you mad."

Ianto gave a brief laugh. _"Is that what you'd do?"_

Viera considered it a moment, then answered honestly. "Well, no… probably not. But that doesn't mean it's a bad idea." She glanced up at a familiar flicker of movement and saw the Doctor waving her over. "Listen, I've got to go. The Doctor's got to save this world, but if Jack's still missing when we're done, we'll come help you find him, all right?" There was a murmur of agreement. "Let us know if you find him before then. I'll talk to you later."

_"Sure, Viera. Thanks,"_ Ianto stated.

"Goodbye."


	34. Interlude: Gwen

ALLERGEN WARNING: The following product may contain faith, doubt, SPOILERS for the new seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood, an OC, the occasional monologue, and more than a few nuts.

* * *

_Supplemental Soundtrack:_

**The Team is Whole Again: "Starlight Grace" by Sycross**

* * *

INTERLUDE: PHONE CALLS & FRIENDSHIPS

Gwen

* * *

The phone was ringing when the Doctor and Viera stepped into the TARDIS. The Doctor groaned quietly, even his seemingly-endless enthusiasm beginning to wane after days spent in that crowded conference room trying to keep an alien world from destruction. They'd had to divert disaster not once, but three times, and all he wanted at the moment was a nice, hot shower and a nap.

Viera, who hadn't had the opportunity to do much but stand around and worry about the world ending, Jack being missing, and how many days the Doctor could go without sleep before he collapsed, practically leapt for the phone.

"Hello?" she asked breathlessly, hoping it was Ianto calling to say that Jack was fine.

_"We found Jack,"_ stated a feminine voice. Not Ianto, but at least it was the message she wanted to hear. On the other hand, why _wasn't_ it Ianto? Had something happened?

"Gwen, is everyone all right?"

_"Everyone's fine. It turns out Jack was kidnapped by a group of aliens who've built their own Mafia. We took care of it though, and Jack's back in one piece, though we had to get a little help from UNIT. Martha and Mickey say hello, by the way,"_ Gwen rambled.

"Good. That's great. Jack's fine," she called to the Doctor, smiling when he gave a pleased grin. Viera was still confused why it was Gwen who was calling. "I thought Ianto was going to call. Not that I'm not happy to talk to you," she hurried to assure.

Gwen laughed, her voice filling with warm amusement. _ "Ianto's a bit… occupied at the moment. He locked himself and Jack in one of the holding rooms of our new base and told us that unless the world is ending they aren't to be disturbed. It seems he's following the advice of a friend."_

Viera bit her lip, praying that it wasn't a mistake. "Hope it doesn't backfire," she admitted her worries quietly.

Gwen gave a sound of disagreement. _"They'll be fine. I think they needed this. It's about time someone do something about Jack's attitude lately. He was starting to drive us all crazy."_ Things were quiet for a moment before Gwen found something else to say. _"Everything work out all right on your end?"_

"Hm? Oh, yeah. They renegotiated a truce, redirected the asteroid, and found a way to stabilize the trio of planets," she stated absently. Things got quiet again and Viera lamented how quickly silence became awkward over the phone. "How's Rhys? How's- How's Stephen?"

_"Rhys is good. He's made his peace with what I do. Sometimes he handles all this chaos better than I do,"_ Gwen admitted, affection seeping into her voice. Then she hesitated a moment. _"I've caught Jack checking up on Stephen a couple times. He seems to be doing well, if a little quieter, more mature I suppose. His mother still isn't talking to Jack though and she won't let him visit Stephen."_

"I'm sorry to hear that," Viera sighed.

_"It could have been a lot worse,"_ Gwen pointed out. _ "And who knows, maybe with a bit of time things will smooth over. Jack's still a bit of a mess, and I know he still feels guilty, but it's nothing like how he wasn't before you brought them back."_

"Didn't do it alone," Viera reminded, a bit uncomfortable with the gratitude she heard in the other woman's voice. She heard a muffled voice in the background of the other line.

_"I've got to go. Rhys is calling," _Gwen said.

"All right. It was good talking to you. Say hello to everyone from the Doctor and me." She glanced at him as she hung up the phone.

"Everything all right?" the Doctor asked, more out of habit than worry.

"Everything's fine." It occurred to her that while the Doctor wasn't immortal like Jack, he was incredibly long-lived. She wandered if he struggled with attachments the way Jack did, though more subtly. Was that why he so rarely went back to former companions? Perhaps even why he preferred not to answer the phone?

It was something to at least keep in mind if he ever started the same push and pull attitude with her.

Viera shook her head slightly at her wandering thoughts and eyed the Doctor's slightly ruffled appearance. His hair look more matted than messy and his suit was wrinkled. It had been a long few days for him. If she hadn't shoved a sandwich into his hand every so often, she didn't think he'd have even eaten anything. Her relative uselessness in the situation had at least allowed her to go back to the ship to shower, change, and sleep.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, a fond smile tugging at one side of her mouth as he stretched and yawn.

"Naw. Shower. Bed. Wake me if the world needs saving," he muttered absently, turning to wander off in the direction of his room.

Viera nodded, though he couldn't see her, and leaned against the TARDIS console. She closed her eyes and listened to the soothing song of the ship, of home.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: All right, so I can't leave well enough alone. I had planning notes for a couple interludes that I didn't really want to just throw out, so I cleaned them up a bit instead. I apologize if all the rearranging gets confusing.

*Changes in Counting Down the Hours:

Added a bit to the interlude on chapter/page 28.

Deleted author's note at 32 and moved Wedding Bells there.

New interludes at 33 and 34.

*Changes in The Passing of Moments:

Added a new interlude at 12 and moved the other interludes forward.


End file.
